The Necromancer
by Aradia-hornbeam
Summary: Sequel to Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: A year after their trip into Van Helsings world Sarah and her friends are still dealing with what happened, but a new enemy threatens Van Helsings world.
1. Default Chapter

Thanx to everyone who read and reviewed my last story! Lol I got cookies and everything!

(my muse and I thankyou creative-insanity)

And for those of you who threatened to lock me up in a dark room with nothing but a typewriter to get this sequel :Cough: Marston, ChristineMarquez :Cough:

You'll have to catch me first!

Dedicated too, and in memory of 'Tigger' who died suddenly on Feb 9th 2005.

"Fare thee well, for I must leave thee,

Do not let this parting grieve thee,

And remember that the best of friends must part."

Thanx for that last kitkat.

Summary: Sequel to Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: A year after their trip into Van Helsings world Sarah and her friends are steal dealing with what happened, but a new enemy threatens Van Helsings world.

Disclaimer: I don't own Van Helsing I just like to mess with it.

The Necromancer

Chapter 1

The air hung heavy with the thick smoke from the small incense stick. The strong smell of lavender curled up in swirling grey plumes, seeming to drift and dance in time to the sweet sound of a Celtic lute being emitted by the CD-player in the far corner. The music helped to drown out the harsh sounds of passing cars and angry voices from the street, all too frequent in the modern world.

A lone figure clad in a ceremonial green dress of medieval style, drifted to the window sparing a brief glance for the world outside of her sanctuary, before drawing the blind down and plunging the room into darkness.

The hiss of a match being struck was accompanied by a sudden blaze of orange candlelight.

The young Wiccan knelt on a pillow before her makeshift altar, an old wooden truck draped with a purple cloth.

She held her blond hair back and lit the central candle, illuminating the large pentagram that was the centre piece of the altar. It seemed to radiate power, the flames light picking out the planetary symbols and sigils carved into its surface.

Tarot cards, runes and elemental objects surrounded it in a box of arcane mysticism. All aided the girl, as she allowed herself to drift with the music beginning to enter a calmer state of mind far removed from the worries of the world that surrounded her.

Reaching out, she retrieved and embroidered purple bag from the altar, smiling slightly as she recalled the friend who had given it to her, a Catholic boy who had braved the local occult shop for the perfect Christmas present.

Reaching into the velvet folds she retrieved the crystals the bag contained, one by one she arranged them around her on the carpet, placing each one reverently into position, clockwise around three times over, creating a colourful circle that encased her and her altar.

Speaking quietly she announced the name of each stone as she placed it:

"Tourmaline, Amythest, bloodstone, heamitite, obsidian, Howlite.." finally placing a small rose quartz wand in the North sealing the protective barrier.

Settling herself Indian style on the pillow, she closed her eyes and relaxed, giving herself over to the hypnotic lilt of the music and the lavender scent that dulled her senses.

Dreamily she reached out and lifted her athame from the altar, holding the ritual knife against her heart for a moment, lingering longer than necessary relishing the steady beat and the wonder it always held for her. Lifting the blade she removed its small leather sheath, revealing the cool metal of its length.

The athame was fashioned as a perfect miniature sword, the carved brass hilt consisting of two perfect dragons gripping the blade between them.

The familiar weight of the metal rested warmly in her palm as she raised it above her head, its tip pointing towards the sky. Her arm began to tingle as energy rose up it to gather in the blades upraised tip; silently she circled the blade above her, drawing a clockwise circle in the air. In her minds eye she saw the crystal circle spark into life, encasing her in a brilliant sphere of protection.

Pausing she lowered the blade against her chest once more.

"As above…" she whispered.

She turned the tip carefully to the floor. "So below."

Lifting the sheath she replaced it on the blade. "Blessed be."

A feeling of warmth and security added to the buzz of energy in the candlelit room. After a few moments of quiet breathing she felt herself drifting away from the world.

The music, the smell of the incense and the flickering of the candles all faded away.

The darkness behind her eyes yielded to sunlight, and she found herself in a summer meadow surrounded on all sides by long grass swaying gently in silent breeze.

Her breathing was none existent now, so slow and slight that it would seem to an observer that she ceased to draw breath at all. Her heart rate slowed as she was truly lost in her meditative paradise.

In her present state she did not notice the sudden frantic flickering of the central candle flame, nor the chill breath of wind that accompanied it as a malevolent presence sort entrance to her circle.

Her first initial shock came when the meadow faded to confront her with a dark void. Flashes of colour chased each other in dramatic unsettling waves; a violent display akin to the northern lights surrounded her.

Frowning with concern, the young witch began to will herself back to the waking safety of her physical body, disturbed by the malevolent shift in her morning meditation.

With surprising difficulty, she pulled back from the lights a faint scent of lavender incense guiding her. A fleeting image showed her the crystal circle failing and scattering, leaving her vulnerable to unfriendly forces.

With desperation she pushed forward, overjoyed when she felt the pillow beneath her and the familiar sensations of the physical body encasing her once again. Immediately she became aware of an intense aching in the centre of her forehead, the unmistakable sensation of another being forcing it's will upon her mind. A sensation she knew intimately and one she had dedicated herself to overcoming.

The vivid memories this intrusion raised, made her tremble with fear and anger. Pushing her feelings aside, the girl raised a shaking hand tracing a banishing pentagram over the spot, it formed perfectly in her minds eyes glowing a bright neon blue shielding her from psychic harm.

Almost instantly she felt the pressure ease and pass, leaving nothing but a dull tingling sensation in its place, her body tensed as she felt a presence at her back.

Something lingered behind her, scrutinising her with an intensity she hadn't felt for along time. Swallowing hard she reached up, her fingers clutching at the small flame scarred disk at her throat tracing the raised pentagram nervously.

The intruder lingered for a few moments longer before dissipating.

19 year old Sarah Harper waited a few more moments before hesitantly opening her eyes.

The room was a mess, crystals were scattered across the carpet leaving no trace of the circle they had formed. The altar candle had been pushed over, thankfully putting itself out in the small bowl of water beside it.

Sarah stood shakily and slowly opened the blind flooding the room with comforting summer sunlight dispelling the last remnants of her terrifying ordeal. She began to collect up her belongings tidying the room as best she could before stripping off her wiccan garments and replacing them with the mundane Jeans and black t-shirt she intended to wear for work. Only the green pentagram remained at her throat, the surface curiously marred and blackened in certain places one of her many reminders to be grateful for any day she could step into the sunlight.

Sarah hurried to complete her morning routine, horrified at how much time had passed during her meditation.

"Crap I'm gonna be late!" she worried rushing downstairs and shutting her, very disgruntled black terrier into the kitchen.

"Sorry Toby, will be back at dinnertime!" she promised.

He was her soul responsibility while her mother was spending a well earned holiday visiting relatives in Cornwall and her sister enjoyed a rare break in Skegness with her boyfriend.

Leaving Sarah the house to herself for three weeks, something she was going to take full advantage of.

The freedom was a welcome reprieve from the constant babying she'd had to endure following her lengthy disappearance and sudden reappearance the previous summer. Only her friend's knew what had occurred in those weeks of absence, having disappeared alongside her following and ill-fated camping trip.

Sarah smiled as she re-entered the now normal bedroom and spotted the beautiful Tiger katana sword resting in its stand above her bed. She ascended the steps to her top bunk and ran her fingers over the sheath, hearing the metal beneath it sing.

Her smile faltered when her eyes drifted to the simple daily calendar beside it.

A bright red circle proclaimed the date, seeming to frame it in an appropriate imitation of blood.

"June 17th 2005." She whispered.

June 17th, the day exactly a year ago, she had left home with her friends for a weekend camping trip…the day they had been sucked into a world of vampires, werewolves and hero's.

Her mind went over the attack she had just endured and her hand drifted to the twin scars on her throat. Her fingers came into contact with something warm and damp, slipping in the liquid covering the skin. She gasped pulling her hand back and stared at the dark crimson liquid that stained her fingertips.

She shut her eyes tightly then opened them again to find her hand clean and dry once more. Breathing rapidly to calm herself, she felt the scars again relived to feel the tiny indentations still closed no bloody trails flowing from them.

Suddenly two loud beeps emitted from the mobile lying discarded on her nightstand. Sarah bit back a cry of shock, glaring at the object impertinently demanding attention for the newly received text message.

Grabbing her car keys and phone, Sarah finally made it out of the house glad to be leaving the suddenly claustrophobic interior for the next eight hours.

Sliding into her car, she started the engine pausing to bring up the new message on her phone.

"One new photo message from: Marston."

A captured image of Dracula from the Van Helsing film appeared on the screen, he grinned up at her comically and beneath it large capital letters cheerfully proclaimed:

"HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!"


	2. runes and poltergeists

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 2

Sarah sighed as she pulled up outside the college, taking a few minutes to close her eyes and rub her hands in soothing circular motions over her throbbing temples. Her headache hadn't lessoned in the eight hours of work she'd endured, if anything it seemed to have intensified so that she could concentrate on little else.

She'd arrived at work that morning alarmed to realise that she could not recall the journey across the busy morning bridges, or the three usually hair raising round-a-bouts between the Coors malting lab and her home on the other side of the river.

Shaken, she'd managed a cheerful smile and wave to Dave on the gate, before making her way to the small laboratory building on the other side of the plant.

The rest of the day was a blur of half remembered conversations and numbers. She groaned inwardly at the thought of the many tests she'd managed to bugger up during the morning rush, cringing with embarrassment as she recalled the black smoke billowing out of the blocked nitrogen machine when she'd turned it on without putting in a combustion tube. What a nightmare!

Still, she had three weeks off now to get her head together, her friends would all be home in the next few days and she was sure that they would be more than up for a night out to toast their triumph of the previous year and promptly forget it, in a fountain of Whisky, vodka and one too many Smirnoff bottles.

The pounding in her head lessoned slightly at this pleasant thought and she climbed gracefully out of her car, the chirp of the automatic locking sent a fresh spike of pain through her skull, but she ignored it, walking towards the market place where she could see two figures talking energetically.

She smiled as her friends spotted her, both waving and hurrying forwards to meet her in front of St. Modwin's church, named for the patron saint of their small Staffordshire town.

The church stood above the usually busy market place, now nothing but an empty space until the following Thursday when it would be crowded with stalls.

The building was small and gothic, surrounded on all sides by a large cast-iron fence, apart from around the back where its tiny moss covered graveyard met the river bank. It was less ominous than the wooden ten foot statue, which hovered in the fields alongside the footbridge.

Only some of many gothic and somewhat eerie sites around the town, all of which Sarah had begun to notice in the past year, finding herself likening the architecture and the statues to those she had seen in another universe on the streets of Budapest and Vaseria.

'Funny how one day can make you change the way you look at something that you have passed by your whole life' she thought as she was caught up in fierce hug by Helen, her dark haired Wiccan friend.

"Hey sorry I made you wait I've had the day from hell!" she said moving to give Richard a hug.

Both Wiccans had been present, along with their friend Adam, when Sarah and her friends emerged back into their own world. They had briefly glimpsed the other universe before the portal closed. Making them the only other people in the world, apart from Sarah's friends, who knew what really happened that year.

The small café in the upper levels of the octagon shopping precinct was as quiet as always. Years before the many shops that used to trade up there had been shut down, leaving the space empty and forgotten but for the café and the new Wiccan shop that shared the space.

Sarah scooped the froth from her cappuccino on to her tea spoon and popped it in to her mouth, savouring the rich flavour while her friends debated her experience in her morning meditation.

"It could have been a panic attack." Richard was saying while Helen shook her head clearly exasperated. "You know, because of the date…I can understand you'd be a little bit freaked out by that."

Sarah shook her head thoughtfully "I don't think so…I didn't even realize what day it was till I checked the calendar after and then when Marston text me. It felt more like something was trying to force its way in…it…it felt like it did when Dracula was trying to control me." She admitted, lowering her voice to avoid being over heard by the few other customs scattered around them.

"It was an attack! Someone's after you!" said Helen loudly and seriously, a glint of excitement in her brown eyes.

Sarah frowned staring into the now foamless brown liquid as if it could tell her, "Maybe…but who would do that? What would do that?"

"Loki." said Helen immediately.

"Great…" Sarah groaned. Helen having just reminded her of a prediction made for her during a rune casting weeks before.

The two girls had gone to a Wiccan gathering at the local Abbey inn, an annual event held by the witch who ran the octagon occult shop on the different solstices. That particular day the main spokes person was a Druid called Richard Landor, who specialised in runic and aura readings.

Sarah had been talked into having a personal reading done, and had sat nervously across from him as he smoked his pipe looking more than a little bit like Gandalf the wizard with his long white beard and wearing his robes. A blackthorn wooden staff even rested next to the table which was set with two downward facing carved runes, all positioned around an eight sided star marked out in green in the centre of the table.

Sarah had been startled when he'd reached out and lifted the green disk from her throat, his fingers tracing the scorch marks and carved pentagram on its surface. She slipped the thin cord from around her neck and handed it to him, watching carefully as his expression shifted from concern, to an active wince of pain…and then too a small smile. He lifted his head fixing her gaze with his own surprisingly compassionate one.

"Do you mind me asking what stone this is?" he asked a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. She had swallowed the strange feeling that he knew all her secrets from that brief contact and answered in a shaky voice.

"It's…um… Serpentine I think…it's a protection stone." She stammered weakly.

He handed it back to her with a whispered "That sings that does."

She'd smiled weakly stealing a glance at Helen who was sat listening, just off the reading area, beside a wall. As the reading began she'd found herself unconsciously tracing her fingers over the two white scars on her throat until she folded her arms to physically stop herself.

The reading was pleasant enough to begin with as he informed her that:

"You see both sides of a problem and so you tend to sit on the fence a lot instead of making a decision…"

Or:

"You're a very open person, you care a lot for your friends…" all fairly accurate.

But it was when she picked her third rune that his face fell into a concerned frown and he met her gaze seriously.

"I'm afraid your future isn't a very happy one." He said sounding reluctant.

She'd laughed nervously trying to sound light-hearted. "Oh great." She said sarcastically.

He stared intently at the pictures on the runes before leaning back in his chair suddenly seeming weary.

"I'm afraid Loki is after you." He said calmly.

Loki was the trickster god of Norse mythology, he was said to be malicious, doing everything in his power to bring about ragnorock…the Norse apocalypse. Being a witch required a vast knowledge of the different god's of many religions so it was no surprise to Sarah when Helen's sharp intake of breath sounded behind her.

The Druid placed his finger over the Loki rune still holding her gaze, his own troubled.

"Someone…you may know them…you may not have met them yet. But someone means you harm and they will act within the next three months. They seek to manipulate and control you, to use you for their own gains but it will do you no good."

She'd nodded in comprehension, bile rising to the back of her throat as vivid flashes of Dracula and Dwergi entered her mind.

The Druid searched her distant gaze and nodded "You know who it refers to."

She'd blinked forcing her trembling hands under the table where he couldn't see them. "I might have an idea." She'd answered lamely.

When the next rune was turned over he nodded in apparent approval.

"There will be a question that will torment you, something you want to know…but I am afraid you won't like he answer."

Four more runes went down without him making a comment, Sarah had grown more and more agitated by the time he sighed and leant across the table to touch her hand reassuringly in an almost fatherly way.

"The runes rarely give warnings Sarah…but when they do they yell them at you. This is a powerful warning…Someone is out to hurt or control you."

"Loki?"

He nodded "Watch out for them and there is another warning…the runes want you to stop self sacrificing! It won't help this time."

Sarah swallowed hard, her hand clutching her pentagram disk tightly. She'd walked out of that reading feeling his eyes on her back the whole way.

"Do you think it could be Dracula?" Helen had asked in concern as they left.

Sarah had dismissed this easily but still felt unnerved at the very idea. Making her excuses soon after, she had caught the bus home.

Richard watched Sarah staring into her now cold drink, noting with concern how tired she looked.

"Ok let's say for a second that it was someone trying to get into you…maybe they just want to talk." He suggested.

Helen looked at him "Your not suggesting she let them in?" she asked incredulously.

Richard shrugged "Why not, lower your shields just enough to let them in but leave you in control. Talk to … "it"…for lack of a better word. You never know, it might be important."

Sarah smiled at the suggestion although she was reluctant to try it, it was a logical answer. "Ok I'll give it ago thanx guys."

They left the table and began to walk to where she'd left her car pausing along side it as she fiddled with her keys.

"I'll see you both when you get back from Hastings ok?" she said hugging them goodbye. The next day they were travelling down to stay with Helen's boyfriend in Hastings for the first month of the summer holidays.

"Call us if you need any help." Helen said giving her a last squeeze before she slipped behind the wheel and drove off.

It can be one of the loneliest feelings in the world, coming home after a long day at work to an empty house, even worse when you know no one else will be coming home that night.

Still, it helps when you have a free phone line after 6pm and a good friend on the other end of the line Sarah mussed, as she curled up on the sofa her dog in her lap fast a sleep and the phone to her ear.

"…so I have to be up at 7am every morning just to get the train to my uni!" Amie was saying indignantly.

Sarah chuckled, randomly flicking through Sky channels and finally selecting "magic" unconsciously scratching Toby's ears to the tune of "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls.

"Can't Bob drive you? I mean if you want to risk it." She said sarcastically.

"No it's easier to take the train."

"And safer."

"Hey! My monkey is a good driver…he just shows off when he's with other people." A faint protest reached Sarah's ears. "Well you do monkey…"

Sarah laughed "So he's driving both of you home tomorrow night?" she asked hopefully eager to have someone to shop with during her holiday.

"Yep, we're leaving after my six o'clock lecture so should be home for seven maybe half past if the traffics bad."

"Great! You can save me from my none-existent social life."

Amie laughed "You have a social life."

Sarah smirked "The internet doesn't count, I need shopping trips and cinema with a group…oh that reminds me Marston's organising another Chicago Rock night, you and Bob up for it?"

"Yeh we got his e'mail, so is it gonna be an annual thing now, a Van Helsing survivor's celebration?"

Sarah smiled at that "Yeh and we will celebrate our survival in the traditional way, with out of tune karaoke and alcohol."

Amie laughed "Ok well I'm gonna have to go now I have a bit of work to do before tomorrow."

Sarah nodded even though Amie couldn't see her. "Ok I'll see you soon any way, bye Amie. Bye Bob!"

Amie laughed "He says bye. See you soon…you're alone there right?"

"Yeh…"

"Sarah for god's sake don't try to cook, you'll give yourself food poisoning."

Sarah laughed "Then what am I gonna eat for dinner?"

"Anything with clear instructions that goes in a microwave, no sausages, no meat."

"So Porridge then?"

"Can you cook that without burning it?"

"Eight times out of ten."

"Then its ok."

They both laughed at Sarah's lack of culinary skills and said goodbye again before they hung up.

Sarah grinned, easing Toby's weight off her legs and standing up.

"She has no faith in me babes." She said to him gaining a small wag of his tail in response.

She laughed "Your ok your food is straight from the can!"

She walked into the kitchen and began to prepare her porridge, humming absently to the faint music from the TV. While Toby eagerly wolfed down his supper she crossed to the microwave, ducking to avoid her mothers twisted fork and spoon mobile that hung annoyingly low from the ceiling.

A glass cube for thin candles stood on the top of the microwave, it shook slightly when she opened the door and placed her bowl inside.

She shut the door and set the timer watching as the lights came on and her dinner began to heat up. Turning away she once again ducked under the mobile and crossed the kitchen to retrieve the now empty dog bowl.

A loud crash sounded behind her and she gave a scream of surprise, turning around sharply and frantically scanning the room for its cause. Toby raced from the room and she heard him climb the stairs and enter her bedroom, no doubt crawling under the bed.

"Coward" she muttered shakily.

Catching movement out f the corner of her eyes she looked up to see the mobile swinging violently from side to side the ornate forks and spoons rattle wildly as though someone had struck them.

Sick with fear she made her way cautiously towards them reaching up to make them still once more. The ring of the microwave made her yelp startled and she laughed at herself crossing quickly to retrieve her porridge which thankfully wasn't burnt.

Glancing up to the top of the machine she frowned when she saw that the little glass candle cube was missing, she searched for it and her eyes fell on it laying broken on the cookers glass surface beside the sink more than five feet away. That was what the crash had been.

Sarah swallowed hard backing quickly towards the door to the lounge.

Her rational mind searched for an explanation, each as unlikely as the other. She could have knocked the mobile when she walked past…the glass holder could have fallen, then jumped the gap between the microwave and the washing machine, rolled a while then jumped the sink and broke on the cooker…Yeh that's what happened.

For the rest of the evening the kitchen door remained closed and she refused to look at it or take her pots through to be washed, her rational mind may be struggling to find an explanation, but her Wiccan mind was doing just fine. Someone was trying to get her attention.

Note: ok that's it for tonight I promise there will be more Van Helsingness in the next chapter! Read and review! And I will try to update again as soon as I can!


	3. Nightmares

Lucy Wanabe: Thanks for that great review, yeh Sarah can't seem to get a break.

HughJackmanFan: Toby's the dog. Wiccan is what Sarah is...as in witch you know? you should check out my first story between the devil and the deep blue sea. This ones the sequel to that.

JeanieBeanie: nope not igor.

Note: this chapters a long one

Disclaimer: I don't own Van Helsing I'm just messing with it for a while

Chapter 3

It was late when Sarah had the courage to venture into the kitchen, and even then she allowed the dog to enter first, silently appoligising to him when he gave her an unervingly pointed look before pushing through the door.

She settled him into his bed and flinched as she turned off the light, reluctant to be caught in the dark after earlier events; not that the dark impaired her vision in anyway.

After the events of the previous year she had discovered that certain talents had been left in her body, the most nocticable being her ability to see perfectly in the dark. Still the light gave her comfort and she stayed in it where ever possible, fear of the dark has always been a very human trait but usually it is th fear of what can't be seen lurking in the shadows, the fear of not knowing.

For Sarah, it was the fear of knowing. Especially tonight. What would she, could she do if she turned and saw something in that kitchen...in her house while she was alone. It didn't bear thinking about.

With hurried steps she turned off the lights one by one and hurried up the stairs, imagining the shadows closing in behind her. It was with great relief that she finally huddled beneath her quilt, beneath it she had the illusion of safety from anything that lurked in the dark...of course, the obsidian crystal she'd placed under her pillow for protection aided in that feeling as well.

Eventually she drifted off into fitful slumber.

She felt her eyes droop and her body drift into sleep. Rest was hers briefly, before the dream fell upon her. Around the country, her friends turned or muttered in their sleep as they felt themselves being pulled together, away from their personal night time struggles and into a void.

Sarah blinked as she found herself standing in a pale circle of light, she glanced around in confusion, alarmed when she realised she couldn't physically move. It wasn't exactly the first time this had happened to her but she didn't exactly have fond memories of those particular situations.

She glanced up sharply ,as a similar shaft of light illuminated a small circle of darkness to her left; a transparent shape began to emerge in its centre roughly the size and shape of a person.

Sarah watched in astonishment as gradually the figure took on a physical form. She recognised Jory immediately staring open mouthed as he stirred and opened his eyes, seemingly as astonished as she was to find himself in this strange black void. He glanced all around quickly, looking down at the jeans and T-Shirt he was wearing in confusion.

Sarah glanced down at her own attire, discovering that the loose hot pants and vest top she'd worn to bed, had been replaced by her favourite jeans and pink top. She raised her head to see her dark haired friend watching her.

"Er…hey Sarah." He said obviously more than a little bewildered.

Sarah swallowed "Hey Jo." She returned lamely.

Gradually more circles of light began to appear at their sides, forming a small circle of light in the darkness. Sarah watched as one by one, Marston, Tony, Chris, Amie and Bob materialized.

Tony looked around at his friends, "What the fu? Who said you lot could invade my dream?" he asked sounding annoyed.

Bob snorted "Your dream? Last time I checked this was my head."

"That explains the empty void we're standing in." said Chris quickly grinning at the obvious annoyance on Bob's face.

Marston frowned "Ok I'm dreaming and all of you are just bits of digested food... I shouldn't have eaten that pizza right before I went to bed."

Amie groaned "I can't believe your all arguing about this, whose ever dream this is…and I'm pretty sure its mine…we'll just have to go along with it."

Jory frowned "Go along with what? I don't know about you guys but I can't move."

"I think we're only meant to watch." Whispered Sarah staring transfixed at the picture forming in the centre of the circle.

The others looked towards the centre of their captive circle and found the growing image that had quickly caught Sarah's attention. They watched silently as the dark abyss beneath their feet was taken over by the image of a sunlit wood and the seven figures walking hurriedly through it.

They were looking at themselves the year before in Alton woods.

No one said a word as they watched their past selves eagerly assembling their small camp, in blissful ignorance of the events about to unfold. As their perspective of the scene changed so did the time; daylight gave way to night and the teens laughing around their campfire, Tony and Jory wrestling on the floor over some comment they couldn't recall.

Suddenly the void exploded with sound and colour. Amie and Sarah screamed in alarm while the guys cried out in shock. The air around them became alive with images of their time in Vaseria.

In quick succession they saw their first meeting with Anna and Van Helsing, witnessed Dracula watching them through his servants eyes.

For the first time Sarah's friends saw her rush out of the safety of the inn to save Anna, they witnessed her flight to castle Frankenstein at the mercy of the counts brides. Sarah swallowed hard and watched their expressions rather than the following meeting with Dracula. She noticed the fear for her in their eyes, the pallor of their faces as she died in Dracula's arms and he replaced her blood with his own.

For what seemed like an eternity, the group was spun through their memories seeing their darkest and happiest moments in that world, right up until they stepped through the portal home and heard Van Helsing's joyful cries as he realised he was about to become a father. It was a hellish ride, a twisted nightmare that felt all too real and memories of wounds still healing.

Breathing heavily, Sarah was glad when that final scene ended. She felt exhausted as though she had just run a marathon, physically and emotionally she was spent. If she were able, she was sure that, dream or not, she would have fallen to her knees.

Her friend's ragged breathing told her that they felt the same.

"Is everyone ok?" asked Marston quietly.

His friends returned his gaze apparently giving this question a lot of thought.

"Define ok…cuz right now I'm not sure." answered Tony weakly.

"I want to wake up now." Announced Amie, she looked up at the darkness above them. "Wake up!" she called loudly.

Jory nodded "Yeh I don't care whose dream this is now I want out!"

"Er…I don't think it's over yet." Chris stammered as a soft breeze rustled their clothes.

Slowly the void dissolved once again to become the sunlit armoury they remembered so well at Valerius manor. Rays of light shone through the large church-like windows to alight on polished armour and blades, the rich tapestries and portraits of Valerius royalty stood vividly on the walls, proudly displayed in cheerful colour.

Everything seemed so tranquel, so peaceful...so not how they remmebred it at all. Where mourneful shadows had enclosed the room, the sunlight shone. Sarah and Amie glanced at each other, recalling how terrifying these vibrant paintings had seemed as they fled Prince Velkan, when he'd stalked the halls of the manor as a werewolf.

Tony stared around him in awe recalling his own dark thoughts in this place, one stormy night as he'd held his distraught friend, and then nights after, as he'd bargained with her to save her own life. Memories flowed around the group, unbidden and disturbing for the most part. But their were some of laughter, some of fun and games. They would all admit that they had come out of this place with a deeper bond, a renewed friendship that would last for lifetimes, and if their was one thing they all missed about that manor, in that world...

"Watch where your going Carl!" came the exasperated voice.

...it was the people in it.

"Well you are rather difficult to avoid lately Anna if you don't mind me saying so...oh you do mind...well that's hormones I suppose." The teens shared a grin as a young man in a Friar's habit hurried into the room running a hand through his short blond hair in aggitation.

"Carl!" Sarah cried joyfully hurrying forwards to hug him. She froxe as he turned in her direction and preceeded to walk straight through her.

Her friends blinked in surprise, Amie surpressing a shudder. "O..kay...that was very disturbing."

"Just slightly." agreed Sarah shuddering and wrapping her arms around herself as Jory stepped up the the Friar and passed his hand experimently through the Frairs head.

He gave a nervous laugh and stepped back bumping into Tony with an audible "omph"

"So we can't touch Carl but we can touch each other...this is one fucked up dream." muttered Chris absently.

Oblivious to them, Carl crossed the room and gathered some papers up from a clutered desk. He was muttering absently to himself the teens catching only random words that sounded like. "Woman...mood swings...disapearing without a word!"

After a few moment another figure appeared in the doorway appearing to waddle slightly under an immence weight, staggering with difficulty into the room.

Sarah nearly squealed with delight as Anna entered the room, considerably larger than as the teens remembered her largely due to the promonant baby bump she carried.

Panting with effort, the princess sort out the nearest seat and lowered herself into it with difficulty, sighing with relief once she was comfortable. Carl turned to look at her with concern obviously worried about her condition.

"I wish I was going with him." Anna said suddenly absantly stroking her swollen stomach.

Carl looked at her patiently, "Your in no condition to travel." he said gently. "The baby will not wait for you to be somewhere conveniant if it decides to come on the road to, god knows where."

Anna smiled "Yes he'll be a trouble maker...like his father." she said wistfully.

"I'm not sure I can cope with two Van Helsings...or two of you for that matter." he said fondly earning a small chuckle from the beaming princess.

Her smile faded quickly though and her eyes shimmered with surpressed fears. "He will be back in time for the birth won't he Carl?" she asked her tone almost pleading with the friar to make it so.

Carl smiled crossing over to her and taking her hand like a brother might in comfort. "I doubt a raging werewolf could keep him away."

he said confidently earning another smile from the princess.

The scene faded and the teens found themselves overlooking a woodland road and a single horseman riding full out along it.

The trade mark hat and trench coat marked the man out immediately as Gabriel Van Helsing, a man wanted for murder throughout the civilised world and yet the one man that had helped save and preserve it countless times. The horse carried him through the woods and out onto the breast of a hill, below him the adriatic sea stretched into the horizon and a ship waited at the harbour.

The hunter turned in the saddle to face back along the road, his thoughts obvioulsy far away in the small village of vaseria and the woman that awaited his return.

"Where's he going?" woundered Bob aloud as the picture faded into darkness once more.

Sarah frowned in concern. "Rome must have called him."

"So he'll just go? Shes about to drop a baby for god's sake what's he thinking?" asked Marston in annoyance.

A sudden wind blew up from the darkness around them making them shiver in it's chill, and the discussion was cut off by the screams it carried within it...Anna's screams.

They found themselves in Anna's room in the manor, apparently weeks after they'd seen her in the armourary with Carl. The princess was clad only in a sweat soaked nightshirt, bearing down in pain amid tangled sheets soaked in blood and viscous fluids. A ragid scream escaped Anna's lips as another hard contraction tore through her body.

Village women bustled about the room, bringing cloths and water, doing their best to calm the mother to be as she battled to bring her first child into the world.

"God, Gabriel where are you!" she screamed out sobbing with pain and exhaustion.

Amie and Sarah winced as the next contraction made her scream louder and more blood pooled between her thighs. "I'm going to adopt..." Sarah said weakly. As the boys grew pale and turned away from the sight. Outside the room they could see Carl pacing to and fro, they quickly joined him alarmed by the conversation he was having with one of the midwives.

"How much blood? Will she be alright?" he asked shooting another glance at the open door when a strangled accompanied by another scream reached his ears.

"We are doing what we can but it is not uncommon for complications to occur." the woman explained aggitated. She left him to ponder this and raced back into the room.

"Van Helsing you should be here." Carl whispered.

Too the teens horror the scene began to change and Carl faded into the darkness as he began to pray for the princess and her child.

They shared frantic glances. "She'll be ok, she fought Dracula and won having a baby should be easy." Chris said with a confidence he didn't feel.

"Yeh." Marston agreed "Woman have been having kids for millions of years...it's natural."

Sarah hugged herself trying to hold back tears. "Van Helsing wasn't there...something must have happened too him...he'd never leave her like that!" she stammered weakly, not wanting to believe that her hero would abandon his new family...knowing that he wouldn't willingly. Family was all he'd ever hoped for, all he'd ever wished for in the long and endless years of his life. It was what kept him going...

Amie turned to her, opening her mouth to say something, but froze twisting quickly to glance behind her. "Did you hear that?" she whispered urgently scanning the void at their backs.

"What?" asked her friends suddenly very aware that they couldn't see into the shadows around them, even Sarah's eyes couldn't part the darkness. They grew silent listerning, straining to hear any sound in the dream scape that surrounded them.

Suddenely a dry chuckle sounded around them followed by the rustle of a material on a walking figure. The darkness was alive with shadows now, passing just beyond the edge of their vision and the shuffle of many feet and heavy breathing taunted the teens from the darkness.

Without a word the teens drew together into a tighter circle, their backs facing inwards so that each one faced the darkness with the comfort of their friends close by. Whatever nightmares lurked in this dream they were going to face them together.

"I think this is your dream Sarah." Jory whispered to the girl beside him.

Sarah swallowed her eyes fixed on the spot directly ahead of her. "What makes you say that?"

"It's too fucking freaky to be anyone elses." he answered with a nervous smile.

Marston was the first to cry out as an invisible force tore them apart, scattering them so that each found themselves alone and vulnerable a startling distance from their friends.

Marston cursed and stumbled blindly as he clitched his wrist where a jagged gash had appeared, identical the the bite he had received from a Dwergi servant of Dracula's a year ago.

"Fuck!" he growled as pain shot across his cheek and a shallow gash appeared.

Cuts and bruises appeared all over his body in a twisted immitation of the injuries he had recieved in the battle against Dracula's brides and the many fights after that. Around him in the darkness he saw the others cry out to clutch at old scars that had been ripped open again. Through tear blurred eyes he saw Jory slump to the floor in shock, trying to stop the rush of blood from the old wound on his wrist.

Bob gave a strangled cry as his leg gave way with a sickening crack. Amie gagged as phantom hands choked her, black bruising appearing vividly on her throat, Tony writhing in much the same way.

Chris cried out and clutched the back of his head, drawing his hand away to see the blood on his fingers.

But their screams were drowned out by Sarah's.

Blinding pain tore through her body as she was mauled by a phantom werewolf. Flesh was torn from her body in ribbons and the three pale scars on her stomach became deep and bleeding gashes. Her thoat bleed freely from twin puncture wounds in the skin there, joined moment later by bloody furrows in the flesh above them.

She turned her back on her friends and Amie looked up in time to see the memory of her sword carve into her friends back.

Amie closed her eyes tightly against the pain and using all of her will she cried out. "WAKE UP!" She vanished out of the nightmare that had taken her friends and awoke safe and in one peace in her dorm room in Birmingham to find Bob thrashing beside her among the tangled sheets of their bed.

Sarah cried and sobbed in terror as her wounds increased...but the worst of her torment was yet to come as flames suddnely burst into life on her clothes and in her hair.

The flames licked her body as she flailed around helplessly. Her friends vanished, each suddenly finding themselves yelling in their own beds, tangled among the sheets. In Liverpool, Birmingham and Burton they simultaneously breathed a relieved sigh content to believe that the dream had been solely theirs; the product of vivid memories and subconscious imaginings.

But, in the dream world, Sarah still struggled.

Her cries echoed around her empty house, Toby raised his head from his bed in the kitchen to whine pitifully at the ceiling, through which his mistress's cries reached him. In her room her body thrashed beneath sweat soaked sheets as the dream fire consumed her.

"Stop it! Wake up!" she was screaming as the heat reached unbearable levels, the pain intense, as angry blisters marred her pale skin.

"Wake up please!" she sobbed staggering blindly, reaching for someone, anyone in her agony.

Through pain and panic she began to sense a presence in the darkness, frantically she looked around for the unseen observer and spotted a shadowy figure watching her from a distance, someone waiting patiently for something.

Had they been there all this time? Had they seen and heard everything that had transpired? She didn't care, she needed help.

"Please! Help me!" she begged falling to her knees and bracing her palms on the ground beneath her, a living inferno.

"Please!"

The shadow took one small step in her direction and then paused, hindered in its approach by an unseen barrier.

A silky voice drifted to the distraught girl, seeming to coil and wind it's self around her like a spectral snake. "I can't, you won't let me." It whispered calmly.

Sarah let out a retching sob as the air around her crackled angrily shimmering with heat from the flames.

"Let me in Sarah…" it whispered an underlying excitement in its tone.

"I will! I'll let you in!" she cried out in desperation.

"Lower your shields." Came the husky command.

Sarah raised her head "Yes! I will!" she promised.

Instantly light flared all around her and three solid walls of light materialized in between her and her would be rescuer. With more strength than she thought she still possessed, she willed the first to dissipate and return to the ether, watching as it flickered and faded.

The shadow stepped through and raised a hand to caress the surface of the neck barrier. "Again!" it commanded and she obeyed, the flames seeming to diminish in their fury as the shadow approached.

The second shield fell and a deliciously cool breeze caressed the angry red blisters on her skin, driving the fire back. She gave a gasping sob of relief though flames still licked her torso they no longer held the in tense heat they had before.

Again the shadow stepped up to the remaining barrier now mere feet from her cowering form.

"Just once more, and your pain will cease." It promised eagerly.

Sarah closed her eyes against a sudden spike of pain in her forehead, and ignoring the warning it triggered she let the last shield fall.

A blast of icy air swept over her, quenching the flames and instantly healing her burns.

Gasping she fell into a trembling heap, her body soaked with sweat and her throat raw and dry crying out for water.

Free from the roar and pain of the flames she suddenly realised what she had done. She had lowered her shields around her mind…let who knew what in. The thing that had tried to force its way into her mind only that morning was now standing before her, nothing between them. For all she knew she had just handed a demon her soul on a silver platter!

The shadow stood above her, she could sense its gaze on her.

Swallowing hard, she slowly raised her head. A pair of black leather boots shone in her line of vision, slowly she looked up to where they ended just below the knees, past some impressive trouser clad thighs, up the familiar long dinner jacket until her gaze met Dracula's amused expression the single gold earring he wore, glimmered at her from under his loose black hair.

Without a word he reached out and placed his hand over her eyes. She cried out as a bolt of sudden pain shot through her head, before everything went dark.

-

Note: ok was gonna put this up sooner but my computer crashed and had to back up my files and buy a whole new computer! unfortunately this one doesn;'t have word just yet and the programme im writing on doesn't have spell check so appoliges for any stupid grammer or spelling mistakes if you let me know of any i will change it.

This chapter got dark somewhere in the middle I'll admit and I know i was alil evil leaving you hanging with Anna and the baby but promise you will find out what happened there.

I have a weeks holiday coming up so should be updating pretty regularly (If my mum doesn't get me a hugh list of house work to do)

Read and review as usual let me no about mistakes!


	4. rude awakening

Thanx to all my reviewers tis great to hear from you all again! Missed you in the whole three weeks I wasn't writing lol 

JeanieBeanie: Drac's my favourite too! He just has the cool dead and loving it vibe about him! Must be soo great to be so bad and sexy lol

Lucy Wanabe : lol thanx for that review you have sufficiently boasted my ego lol

Disclaimer: I own nothing just writing out my twisted fantasies

Chapter 4

Sarah screamed and bolted out of her bed, barely managing to grasp the metal bars in time to prevent herself from falling from the top bunk.

Her eyes darted around the dark room in panic, tears flowing freely down her cheeks to mingle with the cold sweat from her dream. Swallowing hard and taking a few deep breaths to calm down, she sat back on the mattress and leant her head back on to the cool wall behind her, drawing her knees up to her chest.

"Just a nightmare." she whispered to the darkness.

Closing her eyes she brushed some stray strands of hair out of her eyes. Her body tingled where her dream burns and cuts had been, reminding her how vivid it had been.

She waited for a few minutes, trying to stop herself from shaking and allow the dizziness in her head to pass. 'Nothing like sitting up too fast to give you a head rush.' Feeling slightly steadier, she climbed carefully down the metal ladder, stepping on to her sisters empty bunk and then headed for the bathroom.

The light dazzled her as she entered the room and she winced, growling slightly as her headache from earlier that day burst into life once again. Half blind with the sudden light and dull stabbing in her temples, she walked right past the dark figure sitting on the edge of the bathtub, and crossed to the medicine cabinet.

He watched her in amusement as she filled a glass of water and swallowed some painkillers, completely oblivious to his presence there. It was all he could do to control his mirth as she casually glanced at the mirror and spotted him.

Sarah did a double take, choking as she saw Dracula sitting oh-so-smugly in her bathroom! With a startled cry she spun to look at him, tripped over the toilet and found herself staring at the ceiling with another bruise to add to her collection.

A shout of laughter escaped the counts mouth as he stood and moved to kneel over her.

"Ahh how I've missed that reaction!" he said happily giving her a toothy grin.

She gaped at him her eyes wide in confusion and fear as she scrambled to get up.

Dracula smiled down at her stepping back to give an elaborate bow. "Vladislaus Dragulia…" he swept back up sweeping back the hair that had escaped his ponytail in one smooth gesture. "…at your service my love, and could I kindly request that you don't scream?"

Without a sound the girl leapt to her feet and bolted out of the door running into her bedroom.

Dracula watched her go with a fond sigh. "As obedient as always." he muttered. Clasping his hands neatly behind him he turned and stepped through the wall.

Seeing him step into the room Sarah lost what little self control she had left and screamed. Diving up the ladder to her bed ,she snatched her tiger katana from its stand and turned to find him crouched in front of her on the mattress. With a cry , she angled the tip of the blade at his throat her hands shaking.

"Get the hell away from me!" she yelled.

Dracula laughed aloud "Well isn't this familiar." he said with amusement. "If I recall correctly Sarah, the last time you held a sword to my throat it did little good, what makes you think it would have more affect on me when I'm dead?"

To demonstrate his point the threw himself forward impaling himself on the blade his smuile never faltering as he gave her a wry smile.

She shook her head drawing the sword out of his transparent body. "I'm dreaming still…" she muttered "I'm still having that nightmare your not really here."

Dracula sat back, crouching with his hands on his knees looking at her thoughtfully. "Actually this is not a dream…and in away neither was your…nightmare as you call it."

She gave him a questioning look but he was too busy staring at her Athame on her altar. "I hope you realize you still have a candle burning on your altar." he said matter of factly.

Sarah blinked in surprise suddenly noticing that a dim flickering light was indeed being cast from that part of the room. She made to go past Dracula but froze as he turned to watch her. "Er…would you mind moving?" It was surreal asking a dead guy to move out of her way…not that she believed this was really happening of course.

The Count smiled and then vanished, reappearing at the foot of her bed's ladder. She shivered and kept a firm hold on her sword as she slowly descended, taking care not to look at him or step to close as she made her way to the altar and snuffed out the offending candle.

The air grew icy at her back and she turned to find him standing close to her looking at the altar. "You know you are the most stubborn person to try and get into." he said.

Sarah blinked and then blushed "Er…can you rephrase that a little bit?" she asked avoiding his eyes.

He smiled "I meant of course that you have been resisting my attempts to link with you, if it was not for your little vision tonight I might never have managed it."

"Vision…that dream was a…so all the stuff we saw about Van Helsing…Anna having the baby…it was real?" she asked swallowing hard at the thought that Anna might be dead or dying at that very moment.

She walked back to her bed suddenly craving the warmth of the covers, climbing up to discover that the count was all ready there.

"Everything you saw with your friends has happened." he said seriously.

Sarah swallowed hard, "so Anna…is she alright? Is the baby…"

Dracula smiled "They survived…Gabriel has a son, though he doesn't know it and probably will never see him."

The girl stared at him in disbelief. "No Van Helsing would never leave Anna, he'd never abandon his son."

Dracula smiled "Not intentionally no…but I'm afraid he has fallen in to some difficulty on his latest mission."

"Difficulty?"

The count nodded sending familiar wisps of black hair falling from his ponytail. "Rome called him into another holy battle and despite his lovely new wife's protests, he abandoned her in the last throes of pregnancy and departed on a fools errand."

"What's happened to him?"

"It is not him that need your help urgently…although he might need it before the end. In his absence the vacuum of power in Transylvania has been filled and the Valerius family is once again in peril."

Sarah felt as if the air had been sucked out of the room at these words. Her friends were in danger…again. She'd hopped it would never come to that…but as with every good movie she thought sooner or later there will have to be a sequel.

Dracula grinned sadistically at her stricken expression. "Ah I take it you were hoping they would live, happily ever after?"

Sarah swallowed hard, hugging her knees to her chest. He gave her a pitying look, "You did didn't you?" he asked slowly.

Sarah sighed, "Yeh…I guess I did."

Dracula shook his head, his eyes shinning with patient amusement at her childlike innocence, an unusual trait in young women of her age.

Seeing his obvious amusement at her expense, Sarah shrugged raising her head proudly. "I'm an idealist." She said matter-of-factly.

Dracula openly chuckled at her "Shall I also assume then, that you hoped to live out your days in peace…putting the past and the pain behind you?"

She glared at him. "Yeah, forgive me if I hoped, I'd never have you poking around in my head again!" she snapped.

Dracula frowned at that causing Sarah to wince, as vivid images of them together flashed from his mind to hers. They were not the horrifying memories of her captivity and torture, but the more gentle moments.

He was drawing her away from Velkan the werewolf in the dark dungeons of castle Frankenstein, shielding her from a thought that gave her so much pain.

Cold comfort was once again given, as he held her, trembling and terrified, in a vivid dream at Valerius manor. Those moments had been long forgotten to the girl, lost amid a turbulent onslaught of blood, violence and pain, relived through nightmares.

When the final memory came Sarah felt tears on her cheeks. She witnessed the last time he had spoken to her…guiding her through a fevered delusion that might have claimed her life…The first true kiss they had shared on the edge of her awakening, as he sent her back to her friends and turned to face his own fate.

The memories faded.

Sarah kept her eyes shut for a moment, furiously trying to stem the flow of salty tears before the ghostly count noticed them.

The air by her cheeks became a frigid cold and she shivered, opening her eyes to see his smoke like hand hovering above her tears, and the obvious frustration in the counts gaze, as he realized he could not wipe them away.

She turned away from him sniffing, rubbing her palm across the damp trails.

His expression cold once more, Dracula rocked back on his hunches. "You must admit that part of you wants me here. It is the part that made you lower your shields, the part that allows you to see and speak to me."

She ignored him staring instead at the Van Helsing poster on her bedroom wall. He followed her gaze and saw the silhouette of his demonic alter ego as it had been in life…or death. His physical state, to be more politically correct.

Whatever term he would use for what he once was, he was angered to think that she still saw him that way…or worse, was forcing herself to see him that way.

"I lowered my shields tonight…or this morning." She corrected glaring at the glowing red numbers on her radio alarm that cheerfully proclaimed "4:45am" 'So much for a lie in'

"Because I wasn't given much choice …and I wanted to know what's been haunting me for the last few days. I wanted answers…" she trailed off as a sudden recollection surrounded those words and a recent conversation entered her mind.

The count smiled again following her train of thoughts. " 'A question that you won't like the answer too'" he quoted smugly. "And you don't like the answer do you?" he prompted.

Sarah furiously shuffled past him with as much dignity as she could manage given her present state of dress and the height of the ceiling. She angrily stepped down from the bed, crossing to her altar and retrieving a single length of black ribbon twisting it around her fingers in preparation for the banishing spell she was about to perform.

"What are you doing?" Dracula questioned suddenly standing directly in front of her.

"I want you gone! I want you out of my head, away from my thoughts and private discussions for good this time! No more freaky dreams! No more headaches! NO MORE!" she yelled angrily.

Dracula watched her fumble with the ribbon, unable to tie it into the binding knots that would begin the spell. "You know as well as I do that the need has to be real." He said patiently.  
She glared at him defiantly "I need this, I need you gone!"

"We both know that's not true…we're bonded you and I. My blood still flows through your veins."

Sarah turned on him in obvious disgust, the creased ribbon falling from her trembling fingers. "You'd think you would have got the hint when I tried to kill myself to get free of you!" She spat at him.

He smiled slightly "Yes I will admit that, that was … unexpected." He said carefully.

Sarah rolled her eyes leaning with her arms folded against the wardrobe. "So you know about my conversation with Helly." She asked her voice somewhat calmer but with suppressed anger clear in the tone.

Dracula smiled at the more civil turn of the conversation. "I know about your reading, yes."

"What's the connection between that and what's happening now? I had my question and you were the answer that I wouldn't like." Dracula gave her a slight and very smug bow in confirmation, making her grit her teeth in annoyance…and if she would admit it to herself, a small amount of amusement.

"I'm guessing that also makes you my troublesome Loki." She continued.

Dracula shook his head, "I am here as a companion and guide." He said neutrally.

Sarah sighed running an impatient hand through her sleep tussled hair.

"So the point of this little visit?" she enquired finally.

"Things are happening in Van Helsing's world…he and his family are in need of friends and allies." Dracula informed her.

Sarah frowned. "What does that have to do with me and my friends? Van Helsing and Anna have Carl, the Vatican … the whole of the world's holy armies for god sake." She exclaimed, her worry for her hero's making her tone harsher and doing nothing for her mood.

Dracula looked at her levelly, "You and your friends are part of his world, you were the moment you stepped through that portal last year…"

"I think stepped is putting it mildly, I remember it more as a dull tug and a bad fall." Sarah cut in rudely.

Dracula glared at her, and she rolled her eyes "It's nearly 5am I can't handle lengthy explanations." She explained.

The count grinned at her. "Very well…My advice if you want answers or…how do you say it?" he struggled for a moment searching for the modern term.

"Closure…return to the place it all began, the place you entered my universe and I would caution you to hurry, unfortunately time is not a luxury you can afford."

Sarah sighed rubbing her eyes tiredly. "Will you go away if I consider it?" she asked dejectedly.

Dracula shook with suppressed irritation before nodding. "Yes I will leave you…for the time being, it is after all your choice…but if you do decide to go and find your answers, I'd suggest sooner rather than later…you are free for the next 12 hours correct?"

Sarah glared at him, "Like I said…I'll think about it." She said shortly.

Dracula narrowed his eyes at her impertinence, he had once been the most powerful creature in his world and now he was resorted to the task of guiding his head strong former bride.

Bowing to her he began to fade away. "Ado, little Sarah." He whispered disappearing.

The girl sighed wearily, a glance at the glowing clock reminding her that the new day was almost upon her. Even though Dracula had finally left her in peace there was no way she would be able to return to the blissful throws of an undisturbed sleep.

Her thoughts went back over what Dracula had said. If Anna and Van Helsing were in trouble she wanted to help, but what could she and her friends do?

That was another thing to consider…her friends.

A year ago they had all been through hell… literally, now they were happy. They had new lives, new friends, did she have the right to pull them into this?

Amie and Bob would be home for the summer the next day, Marston had already completed his semester and that morning marked his first day of the holidays. Chris, Jory, and Tony they would all be around for the next few weeks and she had happily anticipated the days she would spend with them, they were going to have the summer they missed out on the year before.

But if Dracula was right about everything and she hadn't finally lost her mind, then the dream was real…and they had all shared it.

Subconsciously they would all know by now that something was wrong and the past was coming back to haunt them, that Van Helsing needed them and they could repay him for saving their lives.

Sarah raised the blind, shocked to discover that the sun had risen and the sky was an early pink and gold, the few clouds framed in orange light. The clock read "5:55am"

She had to make a decision.

Sarah began to pace her room restlessly, every now and again glancing at her mobile, lying discarded beside the computer. Making her decision, she snatched it up searching down the list of names and speed-dialling Marston's number before she could change her mind.

A few moments of dead air sounded over the receiver before the first dull ring announced a connection.

She didn't expect him to answer straight away, like any normal teenager at 6am, he would still be sleeping, first day of his holiday or not.

It came as a surprise then, when he answered on the second tone:

"Hey, hey Miss Harper!" came the cheerful greeting followed by the faint sound of a tune being strummed on a guitar.

"What's up?"

Sarah smiled imagining him balancing the phone on his shoulder while he continued to practice the cords on his guitar.

"Hey Marston, did I wake you?" she asked apologetically.

"Nope been awake for a few hours already." He answered cheerfully, the steady strumming of the guitar providing a pleasant rhythm to his voice.

"Insomnia again?"

"Nope, slept fine till this crazy dream woke me up at about half four. Couldn't sleep again after that."

Sarah tensed at his words. "Dream? It wasn't about Van Helsing was it?" she asked tentatively.

Marston chuckled. "Yeh, kinda appropriate isn't it on the anniversary of our little adventure."

"Er..yeh." Sarah mumbled uncertainly, if Marston had had the dream there was a good chance the others had too and that Dracula was right.

Marston chuckled, "So, to what do I owe this very early and unexpected phone call?" he asked.

Sarah sighed, beginning to pace her bedroom again, her hand running absently over the hilt of the tiger katana, seeking strength from the ancient blade that already seemed to quiver in anticipation of some distant but inevitable battle.

Swallowing hard Sarah took the plunge. "You're on holiday from now right?" she asked tentatively.

"Yep, free as a mutha fuck'n bird, for the next coupl'a months." He exclaimed happily.

"Got any plans for today?" she asked trying to sound casual.

On the other end of the line she heard him miss a chord and the muffled curse that accompanied the mistake.

"Shit…sorry, nope nothing special, was gonna start one of my assignments, but it doesn't have to be in till next semester. Why?" the strumming resumed, increasing in speed as he regained his rhythm.

Sarah pressed on. "Well, are you up for a road trip? Get away from Burton for the day while the weathers good."

"Where'd you have in mind?" he asked plainly distracted by the guitar.

Sarah hesitated, her eyes flicking to her Van Helsing poster. "Alton woods."

She cringed at the loud crash of the guitar, as it clattered to her friend's bedroom floor.

A pregnant silence settled on the other end of the line. Sarah waited patiently for a response, sitting on the last rung of the ladder that lead up to her bed.

The silence was strange after the music of the guitar, and she shifted uncomfortably.

"That was a joke right?" came the shocked voice.

Though he couldn't possibly see it, Sarah shook her head and sighed. "Nope 'fraid not. I need to go there…"

"Why?"

She hesitated squeezing her eyes shut and internally groaning as she used Dracula's little analogy.

"Closure…there's a lot of stuff I still can't put behind me, I think going back to the scene of the crime might help."

Even as she said it she knew part of it was true. She did need to go back, not just because her friends in that world might be in danger, but because part of her needed to know that everything had really happened. Scars and swords were all well and good but she needed to stand in the spot again.

Marston sighed "I understand that, we all have things we would rather forget but do you think going there is the best thing?"

"Yes, I do it's been a year, what better time to go than on the anniversary? I'd drive there myself but I don't know the roads." She said feeling guilty for dragging him into it.

"I wouldn't let you go there alone anyway!" he exclaimed seriously. "We'll take my car; see if you can't get in touch with Tony or Jory. May as well get the none Uni peoples in on it." He said to her relief.

"Thanx Marston, I'll chip in for petrol."

"Ok what time do you want to say?"

"er…pick me up from my house at 9ish? Give me time to get a few things sorted and get in touch with Tony and Jo." She said surprised at how excited she felt.

Marston bustled about on the other end of the line. "Yeh ok, I'll see you then, you know Amie and Bob are gonna kill you for going."

Sarah sighed, "Yeh well their not home till tomorrow I'll worry about the wrath of Amie then. See you in a few hours."

"Bye."

She hung up and looked up at the vampire silhouette on her poster. "Happy now?"

-

Note: wow another long chapter hope im not boring you guys, seems once I get started I can't stop! Like I said before have a week off so will hopefully get at least one chapter a day up.

Read and Review as always!


	5. Road trip

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 5

Marston had mixed feelings as he drove to Sarah's house. What could be so important that she wanted to return to that place? The others he could understand, they'd had some good times with Anna, Van Helsing and Carl…but Sarah.

For her it marked the place where her dreams had been twisted into nightmares, her hero's into people who bled and fought and could die. People who, whether they could or not, hadn't saved her when she needed them.

He still remembered that first morning, when he arrived in the village with his friends beside him. He'd seen them carrying the remains of an old man into the church when they'd been told Sarah was taken, all he could see when he looked at that body was her face on it.

He'd believed that she had died in that brutal way, been torn apart screaming in agony in the talons of those monsters, her body lying in a pool of gore in the forest somewhere. He still saw it in nightmares, though not as vividly as in the one he'd awoken from hours before.

Reflecting on everything they went through in that month, maybe it would have been better for her had it ended then…maybe…maybe her pain would have stopped there and they would have been spared the heart ache that came after; when she had returned to them as a demon and then tried to take her own life, before forcing them all into a confrontation from which they still retained the scars.

Some scars were visible, some more subtle. For his part, Marston still awoke some nights, his skin damp with a cold sweat as a creature with grey skin, blonde hair, fangs and Sarah's voice loomed out of the darkness.

His knuckles were white as he clutched the steering wheel, dismayed at how much those old emotions still affected him. A year just wasn't long enough to put the past behind them and he was sure the others felt the same way. Again he wondered if maybe Sarah should have died that first morning.

He turned on to her street blinking as the sun flashed unexpectedly into his eyes, dazzling him for the moment. When it cleared he saw her standing in front of her door waiting for him, a happy grin on her lips looking for all the world, like the carefree teenager she was on normal days, one who had never felt the need to sacrifice herself for the ones she loved, one who had never faced death and conquered it.

Seeing her then he returned her grin calling a greeting as she opened the passenger side and climbed in fussing with her denim mini skirt.

'No' he thought, whatever had passed was gone and though the scars would remain for a long time yet, he was overjoyed that today, a year later she was able to climb into his car, laugh at his jokes and bask in the summer sunlight.

Her death on that fateful morning would have sparred them no pain, least of all hers.

"So I tried to call Tony…" she was saying cheerfully. "But his phone was off and his dad said he was in Birmingham….either that or he said Tony was Italian…I don't know, the guy doesn't speak English very well."

Marston laughed "What about Jory?"

Sarah shrugged opening the window and letting the cool air drift in, whipping her hair back. "All I got was his answer phone, but we might catch him walking to college if you want to take the bridge?"

Marston obligingly turned in that direction when they came to the round about, the small blue Yaris casting a bright reflection on the River Trent as they passed above it.

He was relieved that he'd decided to cut his long hair a few months back, according to Bob he'd developed the amusing habit of flicking it back girlishly while he was driving, to keep it out of his eyes.

Of course, now Bob's hair had grown to a similar length and to Marston's great amusement, he took every opportunity to flick it back delicately. Now it stuck up in a stylish quif, the natural blond highlighted thanks to the summer sun.

"Thanks for doing this today Marston, I really appreciate it." Sarah said sincerely flicking through his Cd collection.

He shrugged grinning at her "It's either this, or the assignment I've been given so this is the clear winner."

Sarah laughed "I'm starting to wonder how any of you lot get your work done."

"It's a skill."

Marston happened to glance at her as he switched gear and noticed the long thin cloth covered object resting on her knees, a crimson hilt was revealed where the cloth had fallen away.

He cleared his throat "Er…any particular reason you brought your sword along?" he asked slightly worried that he would be pulled over by the police and questioned about travelling with the Japanese sword.

Sarah coloured slightly her hand brushing the hilt and pulling the cloth over to conceal it once more. "I just felt I needed it…just in case."

Marston laughed though he was still uneasy "Paranoid much?"

Sarah smirked and gave him an appraising look, "Your one to talk, bet you have the dagger Anna gave you in your bag."

He glanced her way in resigned amusement. "Yeh it's in my bag." He confirmed smirking.

Sarah laughed "See I know you too well!"

"Indeed." He smiled at her irritation. "So how's work going? You still getting hit on by lorry drivers?"

Sarah blushed again "Yeh, this lorry driver came in today and said "What's your name? We all talk about you but we don't know your name." she laughed "I was like "er… ok… you talk about me? Good, bad, pg-13 what?"

Marston frowned confused "Pg-13?"

"Things they should never discuss near my mum." She elaborated grinning. "Apparently I have at least ten admirers, not exactly flattered because their mainly toothless old men."

Marston chuckled "You're a coffin snatcher as opposed to a cradle snatcher!"

Sarah wrinkled her nose in disgust "Eww that's wrong in so many ways."

Marston continued to laugh "They luuurve you, at least they ain't gay… or dead… or intent on killing all of us. You're slowly getting there."

She laughed "Yeh, slowly."

Marston smiled enjoying her laughter "See without my comic relief what would you do?" he asked.

Sarah looked at him smiling "Lead a very dull and mediocre life."

They neared the memorial grounds, a large platform sitting in front of the college building. The pillar was guarded by the statues of a knight and a woman, between them sat the brass plaque proclaiming the names of the men who fought and died in the first and Second World War.

At the pinical of the pillar was a stone angel, her wings outstretched and her foot out in front of her as though she was dancing. In one hand she held a sword and in the other a laurel wreath for victory.

It was over this platform that they spotted a tall dark haired boy in a black t'shirt and torn jeans, walking dejectedly towards the open does of Burton Tech College. He stared at the ground an obvious look of boredom on his features. Sarah and Marston grinned.

"What do you think? Shall we be mean and let him go in or help him skive off?" Marston asked.

Sarah smiled and in answer, opened her door and stepped out jogging across the platform.

"Hey Jory!"

The boy looked up startled as she approached smiling a greeting. "Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked surprised.

Sarah grinned. "Well me and Marston are off on a road trip and we think you should skive off to come with us." She said quickly.

Jory frowned looking towards the large glass doors and up to the window of his art room, his mind clearly quickly processing the pro's and cons of the choices. Finally he shrugged and turned his back on the white building.

"Ok anything to get away from three hours of drawing a naked middle aged man." He said eagerly.

Sarah raised an eyebrow at that as they made their way back to Marston's car. "Wait…your drawing naked men now?" she laughed.

Marston laughed as they entered the car. "Naked men? What the fuck?"

Jory laughed "We're doing real life stills so…naked men."

"At some point you'll move on to the naked women though right?" Marston asked eagerly as he pulled out into the traffic.

Jory grinned while Sarah rolled her eyes. "Yeh, but they'll probably be old and saggy too!"

The teens laughed loudly, happy to be in each others company.

Marston grinned "I could seriously lower the tone right now!" he announced.

Sarah groaned "please goddess don't! The visuals in my head are already disturbing."

Marston smiled "Indeed."

Sarah rolled her eyes at him before twisting in her seat to look back at Jory who was lounging without his seatbelt on in the back.

She tutted in disapproval, gesturing to the ignored seatbelt. "Have you not seen the adverts?" she asked pointedly.

Jory blinked for a minute before sheepishly pulling it around him.

Satisfied Sarah pointed to the discarded mobile next to him on the seat. "How come you had that thing off this morning? I was trying to call you for ages."

Jory shrugged picking it up. "It's broken, won't receive or call anyone and I don't know why I haven't dropped it or anything."

Marston laughed "We do, remember last Monday at Chicago rock?" he asked his mind fondly remembering that night at their favourite club.

"Vaguely."

Sarah laughed "The amount he drank? I doubt he even remembers how he got home."

Jory frowned. "Yeh how did I get home?"

Sarah smiled at him "I had to practically drag you in to a taxi." She explained.

Marston chuckled "Anyway, do your remember thinking it would be funny to put your phone in your pint?"

Jory's eyes widened and he grinned "I did that again?" at their nods he laughed suddenly receiving a flashback. "And I licked the beer off! Right…oh damn I gotta stop doing that. Why didn't you stop me?"

Sarah shrugged "We don't see the point in trying anymore."

Sarah's grin faltered as she happened to glance in the side mirror of the car and clearly saw Dracula sitting casually beside Jory in the backseat.

She turned sharply only to see Jory sitting alone with his head phones on. Breathing heavily she turned back to the front of the car shivering from a sudden an unnatural chill that settled around her, she'd almost forgotten him for a few blissful minutes.

She pressed her forehead against the glass of her window seeking comfort from the physical sensations of the moving car.

Marston glanced at her with concern. "You ok?" he asked worried.

"Just a headache." She muttered staring out at the passing foliage "I'll be fine."

She entertained the idea of asking them about the dream but decided against it, she didn't need to give them any reason to worry about her sanity today especially where they were heading. Marston kept up a cheerful chatter but she could tell he was worried about her, he didn't know why she wanted to go back to the woods but he knew her well enough not to ask questions, and if he'd had the dream as well then she knew part of him probably need to go there too.

"So how's the old witchcraft going?" he asked suddenly.

She smiled rubbing a hand over her throbbing forehead. "It's good but I need to remember to put my candles out. This morning I woke up at five and thought 'hmmm the rooms lighter than usual' then I realised I'd left a candle burning on my altar all night and it was still going!" She left Dracula out purposefully the padded room could be put off till after they got to the woods.

She laughed "I could have burnt the house down."

Marston raised an eyebrow "See that's why Wicca's bad."

"Yeh It's a fire hazard." Jory said giggling in the back seat.

They pulled up in Alton an hour later. The wood seemed to be unnaturally dark, absorbing the light from the sun and turning it eerie green under the canopy of leaves.

Jory swallowed looking down the worn footpath. "Err…when you said road trip I thought you meant Birmingham or Derby, not the damn Blair woods!"

Sarah walked past him with her katana tied on her back within easy reach. "Sorry Jo would have told you. We won't be long I promise."

They began to follow the path sticking close together and jumping at the sounds that surrounded them.

Marston lead the way treading the footpath confidently even though it had been over a year since he'd last come here. The place made him feel uneasy it marked a thinning between one world and another, his and Van Helsings and in Van Helsings world there were monsters. Whose to say over time one hadn't found the weakness? Hadn't forced its way through? He voiced his concerns to his friends.

"It's possible right?"

Sarah nodded "Yeh I suppose." she answered distracted by Dracula, who was taking great pleasure in walking beside her and making rather obnoxious comments about her short skirt, too which she couldn't respond through fear of Marston and Jory finding out that she had lost her mind.

She cursed as she struggled to climb over a fallen log and maintain her dignity at the same time. "Of all the days I decide to wear a mini skirt!" she muttered while Jory helped her over.

They walked on, making their way hurriedly through the foliage until the famous Alton Towers chained tree appeared over a small rise. The chains creaked eerily in a small breeze, cutting through the deathly silence of the wood around it.

The teens paused at the sight, awed by the trees presence and what it stood for, they still didn't know if it was the proximity to the tree that had caused the portal to appear the year before but strongly suspected it.

"Whose bright idea was it to come here again?" asked Sarah glaring at Dracula who hovered unseen behind Jory a look of smugness on his pale features.

Marston walked slowly down to the campsite clearing , noting the fresh ash from a recent campfire. After the story got out about the teens disappearance in the wood, the papers had named it the Alton witch project stirring up theories of Alien abduction and haunting's.

Stories that had escalated on the teens reappearance, and the fact that all they could get out of them was a weak explanation of getting lost, and Jory's humorous explanation for the bite marks on his wrist as "Angry puppy."

The site was infamous now, and many ghost hunters and tourists would camp here for dares or just for the thrill of it. Most scared themselves into leaving well before a single night had passed.

"So what are we here for?" he asked turning to look up at Sarah and Jory who were making their way carefully down to him.

Sarah opened her mouth to explain that she didn't know, when there was a sudden rush of wind and a blinding flash of light.

The teens gasped, turning as one to stare at the shinning and familiar portal that had materialised before them.

"No fucking way!" Yelled Jory as two familiar figures appeared, rushing towards them from the moonlit winter woodland beyond the portal.

Note: lol I know I said one a day but Chistine wanted the next part tonight and I have to feed her obsession ;) 


	6. Reunion

Marston: Hey thanx for the review lol I told you I was making notes while we were talking yep can't wait for easter too cept for me it's Ostara!

Lucy Wanabe: I think everyone loves drac…kinda weird how we all love the villains more than the heros though…lol must be because they seem to have way more fun all the time!

JeanieBeanie: The others are coming up promise! Lol I don't think I could deal with the grief from them if they weren't in it!

Christine Marquez : lol I'd just finished talking to Marston the night I wrote that chap about a week ago when I was just pilling up notes so he was in my head when I started. He's left you a note on a review by the way.

HughJackmanFan: lol yep must admit sumtimes I do talk to my Van Helsing posters, I don't see it as weird more insperation lol

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 6

Carl ran for his life hearing Anna a few paces behind, stumbling over lose branches and foliage hidden in the dark forest. The cries of the infant clutched tightly in her arms, echoed loudly alerting their unnatural pursuers to their location, not that they didn't already know it, their tracking abilities rivalled Van Helsings for skill. Stealth would not aid them tonight.

"Carl take him!" Anna yelled passing the wailing baby into the Friars arms.

He skidded to a halt, almost tripping over his mudded and torn habit as he settled the child securely in his arms.

"Wait what are you doing!" he asked urgently as the dark haired princess drew her sword and turned to face the trees at their backs.

"I'm not going to run Carl, I refuse to leave the village unprotected when I am sworn to defend it to my dying breath!" She announced bravely, settling into a guardian stance.

Carl hurried to her side, straining to see through the shadows to what lurked beyond. The forest was silent save for the beating of his own frantic heart and the wails of the babe, he didn't know which was worse hearing their pursuers or not hearing them at all.

The Princess and the Friar stood side by side in the darkness.

Carl turned to her pleadingly "We're not far now, we can make it…the village will be safe when the morning comes but right now your son needs you too come with us."

Anna stared straight ahead but placed a warm hand on the crying baby's dark hair, hushing him soothingly and humming an ancient Romanian lullaby her mother had once sung to her. She didn't take her eyes off the wood, even when his cries ceased and he gurgled contentedly in Carls arms.

"Carl if there is a chance I can buy you and Velkan more time, I will give my life gladly to do so." she said proudly.

Carl cursed, glancing towards the clearing now visible through the trees. It shone with sudden silvery light as the full moon drifted from behind the clouds, turning night into a weak twilight.

Anna couldn't stifle the gasp of horror that escaped her mouth when the moon chased away the shadows concealing her enemies. Carl whipped round to see what she saw and trembled with fear, as he beheld the small army moving slowly through the trees towards them, a mass of figures pushing aside branches and bushes to get unhurriedly to their spied prey.

Anna raised her chin proudly, setting her feet wider and levelling her sword. "Go Carl." she ordered.

"Damnit!" the Friar cursed scuttling back, closer to where the trees parted and the clearing widened out. He glanced back at her, unwilling to leave her to face her death, unwilling to let the child in his arms lose both his parents before he had known them.

With only a slight hesitation, he was at Anna's side again and tugging her along with him, ignoring her angry protests and threats.

"If you must make a stand…" he said taking hold of her sleeve and dragging her through the trees. "Do it where you'll be useful!"

The sight of their prey fleeing them once more, gave their pursuers a renewed sense of urgency and they began to break into awkward runs, no longer silent, cries and yells of elation echoed terrifyingly close to the princess and the Friar as they broke cover and entered the large clearing.

Carl fumbled with his pocket as he ran, drawing out a small handheld device riddled with copper wiring and a small vial of vivid green slime. Without slowing his pace, he levelled it at the trees at the end of the clearing and activated it.

A blinding white light erupted from the end of the device and seemed to expand as it hit the tree line, it stretched out and suddenly the night was filled with sunlight.

The sun shone in the world beyond the portal, it's rays caressing the snow drifts at the base of the trees, beginning to melt them in it's intense glare.

Carl gave a gleeful shout at his success and broke into a wide grin when he spotted the three wide-eyed teenagers staring back at him from the other side. He glanced back in time to see their shadowy pursuers closing in.

Anna smiled when she saw the portal open and her friends on the other side. They were going to make it, the plan was working.

But then a shadowy figure leapt out of the tree above her head, skeletal hands clawed at her and pulled her roughly to the ground.

She shrieked in surprise, her sword flying out of her hands at the sudden impact.

Carl whirled around in horror, calling her name and rushing forward to aid her as she wrestled with the stinking corpse.

She struggled, managing to deliver a fierce kick to the dead man clutching painfully at her skin, holding her down while his comrades approached the fallen princess.

"Run Carl! You have to save my son…Gabriel's son!" Carl hesitated as the baby in his arms began to cry again…he needed help.

Sarah and her friends stared at the portal in horror and awe, the thing of their dreams and nightmares hung a few feet away from them, it's shimmering surface hypnotically inviting, beckoning them into the world beyond.

The woodland beyond was alive with activity, Carl and Anna rushing towards them pursued by a vast army of shadows.

"Oh my God." Sarah whispered in disbelief as she realized Dracula had been right all along…which meant that he wasn't some delusion, no figment of her imagination…he was real. Somehow that realisation was almost worse than believing she had finally gone insane…almost.

Marston drew his knife and strode towards the portal, careful to stop as close as he dared without being in danger of getting sucked in.

"Come on Carl Run!" he started to yell, seeing more figures appear in the shadows beyond the sunlit clearing. "Get your holy ass moving!"

Jory made to walk to his side but Sarah held him back. "Oh no you don't."

He raised his eyebrows at her "What? Come on they need help!"

"You think I'm gonna let you near that thing after what happened last time?" she exclaimed in disbelief.

A sudden breath of frigid air made her shiver and glance to her side. Dracula towered above her, his eyes fixed on the friar in the portal.

"They do need your help…will you let your fear hold you back?" he asked darkly.

"I…I'm not afraid." she whispered even as Jory pulled out of her hold and rushed towards the portal.

Dracula turned and met her gaze his eyes blazing with hidden urgency and anger. "Then do something! Or you will stand and watch them die!"

Sarah turned to look back at the portal, and with one final glance at Dracula, stepped up beside her friends, just in time to see Anna go down.

All fear left her then, the portal seemed less menacing, a gateway to the friends she thought she'd never see again, not a gateway to the same fear and pain she'd suffered before.

She was older, wiser and better armed this time, and she was not about to stand by and let Anna die, not after working so hard to save her.

Before Marston or Jory could stop her, she let out a wild yell and threw herself through the portal. She gasped as she landed in a deep snow drift, the winter chill biting fiercely at her bare arms and legs.

Carl blinked as she swept past him and swung her sword round in a blow that took Anna's attackers arms off at the elbow.

Anna scrambled up and kicked the maimed corpse off her legs in disgust. She spun and smiled when she saw Sarah with her sword glinting in the moonlight.

The princess opened her mouth to utter a greeting but jerked suddenly, her eyes widened in shock and a strangled cry escaped her lips as she slumped forwards.

Sarah rushed forwards to catch her. Jory appeared at her side then and Marston snatched her sword out of her hand, placing himself in a battle stance between them and the approaching attackers.

"Carl help!" she called out shifting Anna's weight so that the Princess hung between them.

Carl pulled her to one side and placed a squirming bundle into her arms. She stared down at the tiny baby in her arms in wonder, looking deeply into the dark eyes…so like his fathers.

Within moments the horde was upon them.

Marston used Sarah's sword as best he could and managed to hold off the leaders.

The first ran straight at him from the darkness, apparently mad with bloodlust.

With a sadistic grin Marston lowered the blade and watched with a grimace of pity, as the creature impaled itself cleanly. He had little time to savour this victory as the moon lit up the creature and he stared into the dead eyes of an old man, dressed in ragged dirt covered peasant clothes.

"Holy shit!" he yelled ripping his sword out and leaping back to where the others were trying to get Anna to the portal.

"Their people! I just killed a guy, just a guy!" he yelled in horror.

"No! They're already dead!" Carl yelled.

The teens stared at him. "What?" Jory yelled in disbelief.

As they neared the portal more light fell on their pursuers and they saw normal village people in various stages of decay, burial rags hanging in tatters off their bodies, fingertips bloodied from where they'd obviously clawed out of their coffins, and at the head of the group leading the way, was a familiar skeletal figure in a top hat.

The undertaker grinned sadistically at them, his skull like head turned to look at Sarah who was clutching Anna's baby to her tightly.

"ahh hello young lady…I remember your measurements." he said with a cackle.

Marston stumbled back from him, swinging the sword wildly when any of the other corpses came in too close.

"lets get the fuck out of here!" he yelled turning to see Carl and Jory leaping through the portal.

Sarah rushed forward to tug him into the circle of sunlight just in time, as the undertaker whipped out a menacing scythe and cleaved the air where his head had been moments before. Marston fell back landing winded on the floor back in his own world, he crawled away standing to take Sarah's hand and yank her through to stand beside him.

"Close it Carl!" they yelled as the undertaker strode confidently up to the edge of the light.

He froze, apparently unable to step into the sun, but was menacing enough grinning at them with his little army hidden in the shadows behind him.

"Carl close the portal!" Sarah yelled again, almost frantic as the baby in her arms wailed.

The Friar looked up from Anna and began to search the pockets of his habit wildly, his face going white. "I…I dropped it! I dropped the portal device!" he called out in horror.

Marston and Sarah shared a glance and then turned to see a small wire covered remote lying in the middle of the sunlight circle, within a few feet of the grinning undertaker.

Before she could lose her nerve Sarah snatched her sword from Marston, handed over the squealing baby and ran for the portal, her friends shouts of fear and astonishment drowned out by the sudden rush of adrenaline in her ears.

She skidded as she hit the snow covered floor and threw herself to the side to avoid a wild swing from the undertakers scythe.

'Bloody thing had to have a long handle!' she thought with a muffled curse.

Scrambling forwards she reached out and grasped the device, feeling a sudden breeze on her skin where the scythe barely missed her. With a wicked grin at the army of the dead, she turned and sprinted back to the portal, and Dracula who smiled at her from the side.

"Scared my ass." she shot at him before diving through and rolling on to warm summer grass.

"The blue button!" Carl yelled urgently.

She pressed it as hard as she could and watched in awe, as the portal vanished and the world became whole once more.

Note: ok I was kinda distracted while I wrote this (counselling a lesbian relationship that was on the rocks…) anyway hope you all like it read and review as usual criticism welcome and encouraged! 


	7. horsepower with tiny tiny horses

Lucy Wanabe : glad you liked the action was a bugger to write!

Knnyphph: thanx for a great review glad im living up to the writing standards you seem to have set for me : ) I have plans for the drac thing

JeanieBeanie: Don't worry Van will be along in his own time : ) he's having a bit of a struggle else where for the moment

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 7

Sarah lay in the warm grass for a moment, her chest heaving as she gulped greedily at the warm summer air, trying to dispel the cold winter chill that had invaded her body. Marston's concerned gaze interrupted her view of the sunlit tree tops and she blinked stupidly up at him, noticing the look of horror and concern on his face.

Groaning she rolled over and stood unsteadily, wincing as the muscles in her legs cracked in protest.

"Don't look at me like that." she said turning towards him and running a hand through her snow dampened hair.

Marston scowled at her "What, you just think your going to run back and face a zombie army on your own! That is probably the stupidest thing you have ever done!"

"It worked didn't it?" she took in her appearance wrinkling her nose in disgust when she noticed a large amount of foul smelling green slime on her arms and skirt. "Oh crap this was clean on!"

Marston made to pass her the now quiet baby, but she back away holding up her soiled arms. "Whoa don't give him to me! God knows what this stuff is!"

Carl glanced up from the princess's side to look the girl over, he winced as he recognised the green Goo. "Er…I take it my remote didn't survive your untimely rescue?" he enquired.

Jory turned to look at his friend and burst in to peels of nervous laughter. "What? Did the dead guys sneeze on you?"

Sarah ignored him and bent to retrieve the remote from the grass, turning it over she discovered the vial on the back was broken and empty with only small traces of the green fluid clinging to the glass.

"God Carl what is this stuff?" asked Marston give Sarah a cautious sniff.

"Hey could you not smell me? It's a lil bit disturbing."

Marston backed away laughing slightly "It's smells like something died, what is it?"

Carl cast his eyes back to Anna's unconscious form and muttered "Er…I'd rather not say."

Sarah shivered at the implications of that and ran to the nearest tree scrubbing furiously at her skin with some of the larger leaves.

Jory brushed Anna's hair off her face spotting something glinting at him in the sunlight, he frowned moving her hair further back from her neck to reveal a silver dart embedded in her flesh.

"Er Carl…I think I found what happened." he said hesitantly, worried about what might have been injected into her system.

Carl leant over and spotted the dart, pulling it none to gently from the princess's throat.

Jory winced in sympathy "Jeez she's unconscious not dead." he exclaimed as the wound began to bleed from where he'd unintentionally scratched it in his haste.

Carl ignored him, examining the dart in fascination. "It's almost identical to the ones manufactured in the Vatican!" he exclaimed in wonder.

"So what's it for?" asked Marston absently rocking the infant in his arms. "Is she gonna be alright?"

"Yes, yes it's a tranquilizer dart she should be awake in a few hours…but I don't understand how they could have gotten hold of this…"

Jory glanced at the beautiful woman beside him, her brow was creased with worry and her eyes had dark rings under them as though she hadn't slept in days.

"If they just tranqed her…does that mean they wanted her alive?" he asked thoughtfully.

Carl looked up at him startled, looking down at the princess with renewed concern. "Yes…I image that was what they planned…" he muttered.

Marston shook his head. "They were dead Carl, they were rotting and moaning full -on dawn -of -the -dead zombies! And your telling me that they can think and plan?"

Carl shook his head fearfully, "not them…their master or though some seem to possess their own weak spirits, the evil ones he brought back from hell to do his bidding."

Sarah wandered back over, clean now and smelling pleasantly of bracken leaves. Marston immediately passed her the baby grinning at her annoyance over the stereotype.

"He?" she asked hesitantly "So you know who the master is?"

Carl looked sheepish "Er…not exactly…I just assumed."

Sarah groaned "You just assumed it would be a guy? You know woman are perfectly capable of being twisted homicidal bad guys who raise the dead!"

Jory grinned at her "Speaking from experience?"

Sarah gave him a lopsided smile "Well I'd never raise the dead but twisted and homicidal I might grow into."

A breeze rustled the leaves around them and the distant squawk of a bird made them all jump, sudden dark clouds passed over the sun and a drizzle started.

Marston smiled turning his head towards the sky "ahh gotta love the British summer."

"I prefer it to a Transylvanian winter." Sarah muttered. "I think maybe we should head back to my house we can sort all this out there."

Marston and Sarah led the way back through the trees and too the car, while Carl and Jory carried Anna between them.

Marston glanced over to see her smiling and cooing to the baby who was laughing at her.

"Babies like me." she explained grinning at him.

He laughed "You know you can't keep him."

She shrugged "No but I'm gonna get a lot of cuddles in while he's here."

Marston helped her over the fallen log, glancing back to make sure the friar and Jory could manage with Anna before carrying on.

"There is something seriously wrong with that picture." he muttered worriedly.

Sarah glanced back and nodded. "No Van Helsing."

They shared a glance. "Er…Marston, when I called you, you said you'd had a dream…about Van Helsing." she said carefully.

He gave her an odd look. "Yeh…but it was only a dream."

She nodded "Yeh it was…"

They walked on in silence for a moment before Marston turned to her again. "Did you…er…by any chance have a dream about him too?" he asked tentatively feeling a little bit stupid for even suggesting it.

To his surprise she nodded. "Not just about Van Helsing…we were all there."

"Watching Van Helsing ride away…" Marston added.

"And Anna nearly dying in child birth…"

"Remembering…" Marston stopped, his hand rubbing at the jagged scar on his wrist.

He turned and yelled up the path "Hey Jory did you happen to have a really random and freaky Van Helsing dream last night?"

Jory glanced up sharply, giving him a weird look. "Yeh, how'd you know?"

Marston didn't answer, he turned back to Sarah. "That's why you wanted to come here…you knew this was gonna happen."

"I didn't know this was going to happen he just told me too…" she froze as Marston looked at her sharply, she picked up her pace spotting the car in the distance.

Marston caught up with her. "He? What the fuck Sarah! Who told you too come here?"

"No one told me!…I came because I felt like I had too."

"But you said he."

"I didn't mean too…but I didn't know the portal would open, all I knew was that the dream left me with issues that I needed to sort out."

Marston eyed her suspiciously, but didn't ask anymore questions as they finally left the wood and approached his car.

Carl glanced up in shock at the car park, nearly dropping Anna when confronted with Marston's blue Yaris. "What in god's name is that!"

"That would be my car, and I thought you weren't allowed to use the lord's name in vain." Marston said with amusement.

Carl let Anna go to get a better look at the vehicle. "Yes, well I'm sure God will forgive me."

Jory staggered as he took most of Anna's weight, grunting his thanks, as Marston darted round to take her other side and they began to slide her carefully on to the back seat. Sarah climbed in the other side settling herself with Anna's head on her shoulder and the baby lying in her lap.

They all watched in amusement as Carl circled the car warily.

Marston flashed Jory an evil grin before he activated the alarm. Poor Carl gave a yelp of alarm and all but cowered on the concrete of the car park.

"It's alive!" he screeched hysterically, scrambling in his robes he retrieved a large wooden crucifix. "Back demon!"

Sarah giggled from her place in the car. "Carl it's not a demon…well ok I suppose that depends on who's driving it…" she finished thoughtfully.

"It's a machine Carl." Jory explained tapping the hood lovingly. "Like a carriage."

"A carriage?" Carl muttered edging closer, intrigued by this new mechanical wonder.

"Yep there's 68 horsepower on this baby!" Marston exclaimed proudly.

Carls eye grew wide with amazement and he looked at the car in awe. "Horses! There are horses in there!"

Jory grinned "Yep tiny, tiny horses, we discovered them in deepest Africa like fifty years ago."

Sarah rolled her eyes looking down at the sleeping baby in her lap. "I hope you never grow into a teenage boy." she whispered.

Carl climbed unsteadily into the car beside Anna, crossing himself fearfully.

Jory and Marston stifled their laughter as they shut the door on him.

Jory looked at Marston over the roof. "Hey, is there really 68 horsepower in this car?" he asked intrigued.

Marston grinned sadistically. "No idea…I just wanted to mess with his head!"

Dracula watched as the car reversed and headed for the open road, Carl's shouts of amazement echoing out of the open windows.

"So it begins." he whispered fading away.

Note: argh suffering serious writers block had to get Marston's help on this one. Thanx for the horsepower thing! Marston never would have got this chapter done if it wasn't for that. Lol I even watched van helsing over again just for ideas!

Newho loved it hated it think I can do better? Let me know! 


	8. Mad house

Note: sorry this has been a while coming I lost track of the thread of the story and then my driving instructor turned round the other week and said "I hope your studying for your theory test!" argh the world is a demanding place!

Ledae Aria: thanx for the review caffine? Nothing is as good as caffine lol

HughJackmanFan: will reveal all in time and Van Helsings goin to pop up eventually it's all part of my master plan (Insert evil laugh)

Christine Marquez ; lol I had to go for zombies was the natural step up from vamps and werewolves…miss talking to you get your ass online!

Lucy Wanabe : glad you liked carl and the car that chapter was really hard and hailed the start of my bad writers bloke lol I think my muse abandoned me for karmic reasons but we're back and going strong now so hopefully im over that.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 8

Sarah grinned at the baby nestled in her arms, two chubby hands rose to cling to the loose strands of hair that fell closest to them. The wide brown eyes creased at the edges as he gave a squeal of laughter, his hands tugging relentlessly at the golden locks.

Sarah giggled her heart melting for him. "He's so beautiful! Look he has Van Helsing's eyes!"

The baby blinked up at the spiky light brown head peering at him over her shoulder.

"Actually if you look at him this way he sorta looks like Dracula!"

"Marston!"

Jory and Marston broke into evil grins "Seriously Van Helsing and Drac both had Brown eyes and dark hair 'cept Drac's nose was bigger, this kid has a big nose!"

Sarah glared at them, "He has a cute nose, it's not big, its cute nose sized!" she exclaimed tickling it for good measure and electing a giggle from the baby.

Marston chuckled "Honestly Drac had the princess for a whole day! No guy with her like that would be able to resist dressing her up in that hot little brides outfit and having his wicked way with her…" he trailed off seeing the look on Sarah's face.

"That is so wrong." she said scowling at him.

Jory was giggling madly. "Golden metal bikini off return of the Jedi!" he exclaimed.

"Way to lower the tone guys." she sighed annoyed as Dracula grinned devilishly at her from her sofa.

His legs were crossed at the ankle and his arms were clasped tightly over his chest as if he owned the place.

"They do have an intriguing point." he said in amusement.

Sarah ignored him pointedly still disturbed by his presence, when she glanced back he'd gone and she breathed a sigh of relief.

The drive back had been a silent and worrying one, Carl was shaking in an exhausted and speechless heap beside the sleeping Princess staring in wide eyed amazement at the assortment of vehicles and houses they past.

He'd actually screamed when they finally arrived at Sarah's house and a low flying aeroplane past over head. It would have been funny if the boys weren't struggling with the unconscious Princess and Sarah wasn't trying to calm a hysterical baby.

It didn't help when she unlooked the door and an excited mass of black fur leapt at him. Apparently Carl was not a dog person.

It had been all they could do to get Sarah's unusual guests into the house before her annoyingly nosey neighbours came out to see what all the commotion was. She could just imagine the lady in number 36 immediately snatching the phone up and calling her mother.

"Viv, now I don't want to worry you but I think Sarah is alone in the house with three boys and an unconscious woman! I think she's brought her coven home!"

She'd been dreading a call from her concerned mother but thankfully so far, the phone had remained silent.

"Shouldn't we call everyone? They'll want to know about this." Marston asked looking at the kitchen door where the Friar had disappeared.

A loud crash in the kitchen made them all jump.

"Damnit Carl, I told you not to touch anything!" Sarah yelled passing Jory the baby and standing up.

"It's a baby Jory, not a football." she said when he struggled to position him in his arms.

She made her way to the kitchen door, bracing herself for what she would see beyond it.

Sure enough Carl stood sheepishly with the remains of her toaster in his hands, the plastic outer casing having dropped and smashed on the hard floor while he was trying to remove it quietly so she wouldn't hear.

"Sorry…but it's amazing! The whole things so compact!" he said eagerly.

Sarah groaned "My mums gonna kill me." she whimpered. "Ok since it's already broken you can play with it…just for god's sake don't plug it in now the wires exposed."

Carl's eyes widened in interest "Plug it in you say? Err…how would I go about doing that…hypothetically."

Jory stepped up behind her his arms baby free. ""Marston has him." he explained at Sarah's raised eyebrow.

"I'm going to raise him to be a communist!" Marston's voice exclaimed joyfully as he sat with the tiny baby in his lap.

Jory looked from Carl's eager face to the demolished toaster. "Can I tell him how to plug it in? Please, it'll be funny!" Jory begged grinning madly at the possibilities.

Sarah looked at him in horror "Oh god I'm going to have to turn it off at the mains aren't I?"

She headed back into the lounge to be greeted by Marston with the baby on his lap and the history of the Vietnam war on the TV. "Now you see this is called corruption…"

"Oh god turn it off before Carl…"

An exclamation of astonishment cut her off and a brown habit clad blur rushed past her.

"Not the TV!" she yelled rushing after him.

"Hey Carl, me and the kid are watching that!" Marston exclaimed. Twisting to see the screen under the Friar's arm as he ran his hands over the surface looking for a way to get inside it.

"It's incredible! The possibilities are enormous! How do the people get inside? Do you have to feed them?" Carl chatted excitedly.

Sarah pulled him away none too gently and he pouted like a child deprived of a treat.

"Ok Carl ground rules, No destroying my stuff! It costs way too much, now if your good you can sit and watch TV and play with the toaster ok?" She groaned 'I can't believe I'm talking to him like a five year old.'

She was pleasantly surprised as he sat down eagerly and began to tinker with the deceased toaster.

"Ok…that works."

Jory waved her over from across the room. "You have Van Helsing on Dvd right? And X-men and all the Lord of the Rings?" he asked eagerly.

She laughed "You want to freak Carl out?"

"Hell yes!"

"Upstairs in the boxes under my bed, there's underworld too, may as well freak him out more so let him see Anna as a vampire." she giggled excitedly at the thought. "It might stop him from destroying my house."

A loud explosion flashed on to the TV and the teens exploded with laughter when Carl fell back with a startled cry. He stared at the screen in breathless awe and started forwards, the toaster abandoned and his fingers itching to find away to pull the machine apart and see inside.

Marston leapt up and passed Sarah the baby, standing in defence of the television god like any faithful disciple of the media.

"Seriously if you break the TV it's like sacrilege!" he exclaimed.

"I just want to see how it works! I'll put it back exactly as I found it!" Carl pleaded desperately.

Sarah groaned while Jory laughed. "Think you can keep him away from my TV while I go check on Anna?" she asked smiling in cautious amusement.

"Err…no promises." Marston said cutting Carl off as he tried to dodge around him.

She cradled the baby in her arms as Jory followed her up the stairs.

"What do you think his name is?" She asked smiling down at him as he gripped her finger in his tiny hand.

Jory grinned "Igor?" he suggested.

Sarah laughed as they entered the sunlight landing upstairs. She pointed him towards the far door on the right. "Ok that's my room the DVD's are in the pink flowery boxes under the bed, there's six of them."

Jory gaped at her "Six! How many Dvd's do you have?"

She grinned "Last count? At least 163."

She left him to his rummaging and tiptoed to the last room on the landing. The baby began to squirm in her arms almost impatient upon sensing his mother was nearby.

The room was dark, lit only by the outline of light that escaped the drawn curtains. Anna lay still under the effects of the tranquilizer in the double bed, conveniently vacant in her mother's absence. Her dark hair was splayed across the pillow her mouth parted slightly and her expression creased with concern.

Sarah wondered briefly where the Princess would be lying right now if they hadn't dragged her through the portal. Would the undertaker simply have killed her in cold blood, or did he want her alive for some other dark purpose at him master's bidding?

Laying the baby on the pillow near his mother's head she frowned with concern and worry. Whatever the dead had intended to do she was thankful they didn't get the chance. She stood for a moment content to see this touching reunion as the child tangled his strong fingers in the dark locks of Anna's hair "She'll be awake soon little guy I promise." she whispered to him stroking his own hair back lovingly.

She jumped when Dracula melted out of the shadows beside the head board and gazed down at the sleeping princess form the other side of the bed.

"Get away from her." Sarah hissed tensing as he reached out to caress the air above her face.

He looked up at her with a charming smile "I believe I am entitled to watch over my great-great-great-great niece." he said simply.

She glared at him "You have no rights where it comes to Anna!" she hissed angrily.

He sighed looking back at the princess with a longing expression. "You are right of course."

She relaxed slightly when he backed away from the bedside and leant against the windowsill, his eyes still on the mother and baby.

"An idealic scene isn't it? One I never thought I would witness, the last of the Valerius living to continue the line. It's historic."

Sarah moved cautiously around the bed pulling the covers further up Anna's body. "One you tried your best to prevent." she shot back.

The count smiled almost wistfully. "Indeed I did."

Upon the mattress the baby gave a small squeal of laughter and they turned to see him staring straight at Dracula a gummy grin on his tiny face. Sarah blinked as the Count moved around the bed and the babies eyes followed him giggling sweetly when the count gave the little prince an elegant bow.

"He can see you." she whispered breathlessly.

The count chuckled "It would seem so, children are remarkably sensitive to these sort of things." he shot her a meaningful look "They are also a great judge of character."

Sarah frowned looking at the beaming child's reaction to the ghostly count. "I wouldn't be so sure of that."

A faint groan made her glance at the princess. Anna began to stir thrashing dangerously among the covers. Alarmed Sarah pulled the baby out of harms way, placing him safely in a basket of clean blankets at the foot of the bed she rushed around and tried to hold the princess still.

"Anna it's ok! Your safe wake up!" she yelled desperately.

She saw Dracula fade away and sighed with relief, one less thing to worry about.

Beneath her arms Anna grappled with nightmarish creatures crying out curses in her native Romanian to her hidden assailants. Sarah held her arms down with difficulty worried that she would hurt herself.

"Anna please! It's Sarah wake up! Anna!"

The Princesses dark eyes shot open glazed and unforced she felt someone holding her down, with a cry of anger and fear she lashed out. Her hand locating the dagger in her belt and drawing it faster that Sarah could react.

As the blade came towards her she cried out and instinctively her hand shot out in defence with reflexes almost inhumanly fast, another side effect of her vampiric history. Her hand closed on Anna's wrist stopping the lightening blow millimetres from her left eye. She gasped in fear as she stared at the sharp tip, her eyelashes brushing it as she blinked.

Anna froze as she heard her attacker cry out in a very familiar voice and her own baby's cry echoed around her. She blinked trying desperately to focus on the figure before her. A girl with long blond hair stared at the blade that had nearly killed her, her hand grasping Anna's wrist painfully, trembling with shock and adrenaline. Recognition sparked in Anna's groggy mind.

"Sarah? Oh my God Sarah." she gasped the blade falling from her fingers on to the mattress between them.

The girl relaxed visibly turning to give her a hesitant smile. "It's a wonder Van Helsing survives sharing a bed with you if he gets that reaction every morning." she grinned as the Princess drew her into a tight hug.

Anna laughed aloud her voice thick with emotion. "At least it wasn't a sword this time."

Sarah grinned laughing herself as she recalled the night Velkan had broken into Valerius Manor and Anna had run her threw with her sword before she realised who she was. Thankfully she had become a vampire by then or that one blow would have killed her.

The Princess pulled away smiling at her as she crossed to the blinds and pulled them up allowing the summer sunshine to enter the room. A baby's cry sounded at the foot of the bed making the Princess tense up with sudden worry.

"Velkan? Carl are they alright?" she asked urgently.

Sarah broke into a wide grin. "Velkan? You called him Velkan after your brother?" she asked picking the agitated little boy up.

Anna sagged with obvious relief as Sarah placed the baby into her arms, holding him close and muttering Romanian prayers of thanks.

"It was Gabriel's decision, we discussed it before…before he left."

Sarah watched as she put the tip of her finger in baby Velkan's mouth and seeing how hungry he obviously was began to breast feed him.

Sarah helped her shuffle back to lean against the head board placing a pillow under her arm to give it some support while the baby suckled hungrily.

They both jumped startled when the bedroom door burst open and Marston, Jory and Carl rushed in .

They froze when they saw Anna was awake. "We heard shouting what?…"

All three stared at the breast feeding baby turning identical shades of pink.

Sarah and Anna laughed as they scrambled to leave the room again with hurried apologies.

"It's perfectly natural." Sarah called after them sniggering.

She sat next to Anna on the bed smiling at her. "He's a beautiful baby, you and Van Helsing must be so proud."

Anna sighed "I am…Gabriel…Gabriel never got to see him. We sent messengers out when I went into labour but he couldn't be found and the messengers didn't return…not as they had been in life anyway."

Sarah shivered "They became part of the dead that were after you?" she asked tensing at Anna's nod.

"I don't understand, what's happened Princess? How did everything get so messed up…we killed Dracula I thought that would be the end of it."

"It was for a while, there were other missions of course. A banshee in Ireland, Gargoyles in Poland. I travelled with Gabriel fighting by his side for six months until my pregnancy became to heavy and it was dangerous for me to continue. Carl returned to Transylvania with us as we settled down far from the Vatican…we were happy for a while." She stared at the ceiling dreamily remembering peaceful times.

"Then the Vatican ordered him back." Sarah guessed sadly.

Anna nodded "They needed him for a mission of vital importance, they wouldn't tell him where or how long he would be away…I don't know why he went in the end. He fought against going long into my seventh month but eventually he left. He said we would never have any peace until he was free of them, one final mission and he would resign."

She closed her eyes against sudden tears. "Three months later I entered a difficult labour and Velkan was born…I felt myself dying and he wasn't with me. The first time since we met that I have been in mortal danger and he wasn't there to save me. Velkan is three months old now and he has yet to see his father."

Sarah listened sadly close to tears. 'Where was Van Helsing all this time? He wouldn't abandon Anna and the baby he couldn't.' she thought sadly.

The Princess sat Velkan on her lap patting his back gently after his feed. "Two weeks ago people in the village began to find fresh graves disturbed, it was like the days when Victor Frankenstein was alive robbing fresh bodies for his evil experiments. All over Transylvania reports came in of similar incidents and the Vatican saw fit to inform Carl that it was happening all over the world."

Sarah frowned "They told him that but nothing about Van Helsing?"

The Princess shook her head angrily. "They tell us only what they think we need to know, that is all. Disappearances became more frequent and the night of the full moon a hysterical farmer came into the manor and said he had seen his brother corpse walking as though alive in the woods.  
I went to investigate and soon found myself surrounded by the walking dead. hose I knew mocked and called out to me, the Priest's dear mother cackling madly, told me her master, the master of the dead, was coming for me and those I loved. It was all I could do to keep the horse calm as they clambered and grabbed at his legs, trying to pull me from the saddle. I used my sword to clear a path and get away, but when I cleared the rise of the hill I found myself staring into the sunken eyes of the Undertaker."

Sarah shivered remembering the way he'd sneered at her as she'd rushed back for Carl's remote. "If you ask me death hasn't changed him a whole lot in the looks department." she said bitterly.

Anna smiled slightly at that but her face fell again soon after. "The next night…last night. They fell upon the village, most of the villagers got out or managed to arm themselves and protect their homes…those that didn't must still be lying in the streets now. Carl and I managed to leave the manor, their were too many to fight and I had to think of my son."

"So Carl decided to escape into our world." Sarah finished.

Anna nodded looking at her intently "We need Friend's Sarah…Allies, people who have fought beside us, you and your friends are the only ones we can trust to help us find Gabriel and bring an end to all of this."

The girl swallowed hard, unconsciously rubbing the scars on the side of her throat. 'Allies, friends…that's what Dracula said.'

Anna's eyes bore into her, pleading with her to help them. The last few months had taken their toll on the Princess, her spirit had dulled and dwindled with grief and loneliness and the loss of her child's father. The constant questioning of his fate…it must have been torture. She couldn't trust the Vatican, she had no family other than Van Helsing and Carl so it was no wonder she'd come to them.

"Come on I think Jory's putting some films on, I'll talk to the guys about this and call Amie, Bob, Tony and Chris. This isn't something we can rush into." she said quietly feeling like she was betraying her friend.

Anna smiled sadly and raised her chin "Of course I understand."

Quietly the two woman made their way down the stairs to the cheerful sounds coming from the lounge.

Note: ok hopefully that's filled in a few of the blanks next chapter hopefully will be form Van Helsings point of view lol can very well have a Van Helsing fic without him now can I:D Hope to update sooner now I have the story mapped out!  
Read and Review! 


	9. Van Helsing's tale

Lucy Wanabe: yay a dedicated reader! Lol sorry to make you wait im making up for it now I hope. Lol Marston will be thrilled that he has a new fan. 

JeanieBeanie: that's how he really talks! Honestly he wanted to by a U.s.s.r hat and everything lol

Christine Marquez: Dance away Chris!

HughJackmanFan: lol I got a kiss! Baby is Baby Velkan :D

Note: ok this is not a serious work so I hope no religious people will be offended as its not my intent to put down anyone's beliefs or question them. I apologise if this chapter does offend.

Warning: contains Jinette bashing.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 9

No sunlight, no sounds, no smells…it would have been complete sensory deprivation but for the sharp stench of the soiled straw that littered the far corner of the cell; and of course the sound of his jeering captors.

They were there now, taunting him from beyond the cell door, flaunting him like a caged animal to those who would dare look upon the most wanted murderer in Europe.

He'd had many names pinned on him over the years, names that belonged to the real culprits he had despatched but by association found there way to him.

Jack the Ripper was a favourite in England. A man who stalked the poor Harlots on the back streets of London.

He wasn't that man…but he had known that man in the brief moments before his death.

Perhaps "Man " was not the right classification for that creature.

Oh he'd been human enough once upon a time, he'd had a mother, grown up to be a doctor, well respected loved and adored. Those things didn't matter to the succubus that seduced and possessed his soul, the corruption had run deep in that one until he was a shell of a man, driven to prey on the pitiful urchins who sold their love on the streets.

His death had been easier than his life, one quick blow from a spinning Togo blade had relieved him of his head, sending a fountain of poisoned blood upon the cobblestones.

Then He, Van Helsing. The left hand of God and servant to his will had been spotted, covered in blood, standing over the rippers most recent and final victim with the body of a well respected Doctor at his side.

The cry had been taken up by the whole city, that the ripper had been cornered.

"Come on lads grab ye'r guns!" Guns being the more civilised form of torches and pitchforks.

Yet he'd managed to get away…he'd evaded an entire city.

How then, could he have fallen into the hands of these bounty hunters, these armatures.

It would have been less humiliating if it were someone of Scotland Yard's calibre. A rising young detective perhaps, brilliant in his simplicity, cunning enough to ensnare the elusive shadow that Van Helsing believed himself to be.

He could dream…he had time too now. What was that old saying of Pride before a fall?

Greasy hair hung into his eyes irritating his nose, which was too far away from his manacled hands to scratch.

The great Gabriel Van Helsing, a man trained by monks and mullahs throughout the world, the front man in the fight against evil…and he couldn't scratch his bloody nose.

An irritated growl escaped his lips for the third time in the last ten minutes and was met by the door swinging open and the braver of the two idiots barging in, giving him a back hand that split his already damaged and thirst parched lips.

"I'm sorry Herr Van Helsing are the accommodations not to your liking?" he sneered, electing amused sniggers and jeers from his audience beyond the door.

Van Helsing spat blood, turning his head to smile up at the arrogant fool.

"Actually I find them rather comfortable, it is a shame that it is infested with swine though, the smell is rather overpowering."

He didn't flinch as what remained of his tattered shirt was ripped away and ten sharp blows with the cruel bamboo cane, were delivered to his bare skin, opening the most recent wounds only just healing from the last beating he'd received.

He took the pain gladly, accumulated the scars, each one a penance for being so foolish as to abandon the woman he loved when she needed him the most. For nearly five months he'd been rotting in chains, travelling form jail to jail, a paraded trophy for the imbeciles that had had the luck of catching him off guard.

He'd made them very rich men as they collected bounties form across Europe even taking him to the Romanian border, so close to his home and family, so close to the child that he knew must have arrived by now and the woman who'd carried him…his Princess…his Anna.

His tormentor sneered as he fell to his knees weak from lack of food and water, beaten to the brink of death too many times, a husk of the man who had ridden out half a year before on one last mission.

The only thing that remained was his spirit, the glint in his eyes . His spirit would never break, Anna possessed that part of him and guarded it well, while she lived he would never truly suffer.

He was still smiling when his jailer yanked his head up by the hair and spat on his face, hidden beyond recognition by an uncontrolled growth of facial hair.

"Do not worry Herr Van Helsing, you won't be among the living much longer, the noose is waiting for you in Berlin and my partner and I have front row seats." he threw the hunters head down again violently jarring his bloodied wrists where they carried his weight from the manacles.

He strode over to the door and grinned back with blackened and crumbling teeth. "Herr Logan and I have profited handsomely from you."

Van Helsing smiled pleasantly "Congratulations, now you two can have the dream wedding you've always wanted, I hope your very happy together." he continued to grin when the cell door slammed shut disturbing dust from the wood above it.

He listened to the receding footsteps and angry voices until the door at the end of the corridor creaked closed. Only then did he sag pathetically in his chains, hissing as his stinging back spasmed sending rivers of blood falling to the stone beneath his bare feet.

His capture seemed a life time ago, riddled with rookie mistakes and mysteries.

He'd been happy with Anna…oh so happy for the first time since…well he couldn't remember when. He could still remember the day the Vatican demanded his return, could see it perfectly in his mind.

Anna was still sleeping when he woke, her dark hair splayed across the pillows, one arm above her head the other draped serenely over her swollen stomach. She was a goddess to him, a wild beauty who matched him in everyway. From her fiery temper, to her stubborn drive to protect those she loved…his soul mate.

Smiling he traced gentle fingers over her forehead, brushing away a loose strand of hair and tracing a line down her cheeks to her lips.

He grinned when she stirred and kissed his fingertips, opening her deep brown eyes to meet his.

"Good morning Mrs Van Helsing" he whispered huskily capturing her lips in a long and passionate kiss.

She smiled sighing against him in contentment. "Mrs Valerius -Van Helsing I believe we agreed." she teased, her eyes shinning at his affections.

"I beg your pardon Princess. Mrs Valerius-Van Helsing." he amended, pulling her close, his hand covering hers over her abdomen.

Anna giggled when a strong kick from inside made him jump and stare startled at her stomach.

"Your son doesn't approve of you teasing his mother." she laughed clasping his hand and returning it to the spot. They both waited eagerly for the next kick, laughing aloud when it came good and strong beneath their fingers.

"He's going to be a strong one, just like his mother." he'd said in awe looking with desire on the woman who was giving him such a precious gift.

Anna smiled "And handsome." she whispered "Like his father…our little Prince."

"Velkan." Gabriel finished grinning as her eyes widened with emotion.

She rose to a sitting position looking down on him in shock and hope. "Velkan? After my brother?" she asked hardly daring to believe he meant it.

Van Helsing grinned pulling her on top of him, an awkward position given the mass between them now.

"I can't think of a better name, can you?" he whispered wiping away her joyful tears.

Alone in a cell far from home and the people he loved, Van Helsing shed a bitter tear. They had been so happy, so full of hope that they were going to have everything they'd dreamt of for so long, for the first time nothing threatened their family or their future.

Then Carl had arrived from Rome an urgent summons clutched tightly in his hesitant fingers.

Van Helsing had raged at the poor Friar.

"But it's God's will." Carl had stammered pitifully as the hunter paced in front of the fire.

"God's will be damned!"

"Van Helsing!" the Friar exclaimed in shock.

The hunter closed his eyes leaning angrily against the cool stone of the mantle. "I have been doing God's will for centuries Carl! Centuries and I don't even understand how that is possible, was it God's will that I end innocent lives? God's will that I have no one…no home and no family? Well now I do, I have a home and I have a family…I am finished with God's will, I am done fighting for the Cardinal!" he threw the remaining shreds of the message into the fire watching them shrivel and burn with satisfaction.

"I told Jinette 'no more.' I have a wife now, a child on the way. Surly that was also "God's will"

Carl sighed wearily. "I understand your frustration…" he stammered. Van Helsing shot him a disbelieving look. "Well…alright perhaps I don't…But you have a duty to the church."

"Had a duty, Carl." the hunter corrected, his voice calmer now. "I've severed my ties with the Vatican my duty is to my family now, I told the Cardinal as much when we left."

"Yes well…he's still bitter about you keeping …certain information from him." Carl whispered.

Van Helsing looked at him sharply "Does he know about our young friends Carl?"

"He suspects something. Your report on the Dracula mission was rather… incomplete in places."

He smiled slightly "It would have been worth it to see his face when I told him we were aided by adolescents who distorted time and space to fight by our side."

Carl shuddered, less amused by the prospect. "I doubt he would have been thrilled that you let a known witch turned Vampire live either."

"I fight evil Carl, not innocent children."

The Friar frowned "I wasn't implying …oh never mind, the point is the Cardinal request you for an assignment…shall I assume your not going?"

The few weeks that followed were haunted by similar notes and summons one from the Cardinal himself demanding Van Helsing's return.

"There are other field agents! The fate of the world doesn't rest one my shoulders!" he'd raged.

The peace he'd sort was marred by a nagging guilt.

Then one night he'd sat beside his bed, staring at the beautiful woman sleeping peacefully within it's covers, and he made a decision.

"I'm going to Rome."

Anna stared at him in confusion. "But Gabriel…"

"They won't leave us in peace Anna…I must go and settle this in person, remind them that I'm retired."

Her gaze softened "The baby will be here within the next three months…do what you have to in Rome, but hurry back to me. We Valerius woman are said to be vengeful to husbands who miss a birthing."

He grinned holding her close and kissing her forehead, his heart aching at the thought of the painful parting. "I would not risk the wrath of a Valerius Princess." he whispered capturing her lips.

He'd left soon after, his favourite Transylvanian stallion carrying him far from his loved ones.

Rome had appeared to him over a small rise after a week of travel by sea and over land. The huge city seemed so alien after the isolated Valley of Vaseria, even the Vatican in all it's holy glory shimmering in the afternoon sun gave him no joy. What was such beauty worth to a man whose heart lay across the sea?

His boots had echoed menacingly on the polished floor raising timid looks from the few monks milling about on the upper levels, they sensed his bitterness at being confined once again behind walls that had never been his home.

"Have you come to confess your sins?" asked the annoyingly stern voice when he grudgingly entered the confessional box.

He'd smiled ironically. "I have none to confess father."

A stunned silence followed this bold statement.

The dark panel snapped back loudly, placing the hunter at the mercy of a cold hard stare from a man who could have easily been a stern parent. Far from cowering like a guilty teenager, Van Helsing matched it, beginning a staring match neither man would back down from.

"None?" Cardinal Jinette demanded. "None! You say!"

"I do, do you disagree father?"

"Such ungrateful impertinence! When we found you crawling up the steps of this church, half dead…"

Van Helsing cut off the familiar speech swiftly. "I did God's work, surely he owes me some happiness!"

"God owes you nothing!" The Cardinal roared enraged.

Those monks nearest to the confessional hurriedly crossed themselves and scurried away fearfully.

"He owes me a life and he has delivered it!" Van Helsing countered "He brought Anna and I together, blessed us with a child and you accuse me of going against his will! Is it not arrogant of you to assume you know God's will?" he demanded years of bitter servitude rising to the surface.

He was fond of the Cardinal but the man infuriated him at times, now he had gone too far and Van Helsing wanted to be certain he got the message.

"I am Cardinal of the catholic church! The leader of the holy order that stands between the world and the devil…"

"You don't have the power to question God's plans anymore than I do!" the hunter spat.

The Cardinals complexion began to match his red robes at these words, his eyes flashed with terrible fury. "You are bound to the holy order!"

"I have served my God and I'm done, I did not start this war and no one ever expected me to finish it." he said coldly.

"The order is your life!"

"The order is corrupt!"

The Cardinal jumped to his feet, the stool clattering to the side. "How dare you! You owe this order your allegiance! It is your destiny…"

"My destiny is my own! This order has fought only for it's own power, yes you rid the world of evil but you cannot justify those who have suffered to maintain your secrecy!" The hunter pushed aside his own chair rising to his full height and towering over the small man behind the mesh.

The Cardinal glared at him. "Secrecy is essential to our way of life! Too our war!"

Van Helsing felt his fists clench at his sides. "That secrecy has nearly cost me my life, has confined me to the shadows throughout Europe. I am done with secrecy, you have other agents I'm sure they will be more than willing to play martyr for you."

Jinette garbled like an angry turkey, unable to express his fury as the hunter replaced his hat on his head and stepped out of the confessional. He didn't even have the presence of mind to activate the bars and seal him in.

Van Helsing smiled to the darkness of his cell, Jinette's shocked expression staring at him from the shadows. To his surprise he had felt nothing that day as he left the Vatican and mounted his horse. Their was no fear, no regret only a huge feeling of freedom, a sudden lightness to his body relieved of what had weighed it down for so long.

A lone monk had passed him as he left the courtyard, a man close to the Cardinal will an unhealthy interest in the occult and a reputation for seeing what others could not. He'd nodded a cheerful greeting to the departing Hunter.

"Father Abbot." Van Helsing had replied courtly. Perhaps it was his new found freedom, or his haste to put as much distance between himself and the Vatican as possible. But when he passed over the hilltop leading out of Rome he could still feel the monks eyes on him.

If there was one moment his ill luck had begun it was when he'd entered the forests that ringed the edges of the Adriatic sea. In the night things whispered to him from beyond the camp fire and his horse, who'd faced a werewolf without flinching, shied at the slightest sound.

The third night he'd awoken in a cold sweat sensing evil nearby. The horse lay dead at his side, the flesh stripped away leaving nothing but bloodied bones. Calmly he'd prepared himself to fight, his cross bow was prepped and ready loaded with silver and holy water darts.

At a loud rustle of leaves he'd spun and fired at the moving shadows finding himself suddenly surrounded by transparent and dark figures.

He fired again cursing as his darts passed through them to thud loudly into the bark of the surrounding trees. "Ghosts!" he hissed backing up and dropping his weapon to the ground.  
From one of his many pockets he withdrew a small cross holding it up clearly in the light from the fire. Ancient words of exorcism echoed from his lips making the dead souls writhe and screech as he bid them to return to there rest.

When the darts came whistling out of the darkness he barely managed to stop three out of the five of them, he was so astonished. Two found home, embedding themselves deeply into his throat and arm injecting him with the narcotic they carried. He'd stared at them, recognising them as Vatican property.  
With his last pools of strength he'd staggered in the direction they'd appeared from, falling to his knees at the edge of his camp. With drugged vision he saw a figure vanish into the shadows…

The next thing he knew he was bound and gagged in the back of a horse and cart surrounded by iron bars. Two unwashed Germans leering at him.

Five months…it felt so much longer.

Anna appeared to him in the darkness as she so often did in the fever that accompanied his beatings. She whispered soothing words he couldn't hear, rubbing phantom fingers over his wounds.

He always went to sleep in her arms…he could almost believe she was really there…almost.

Note: love this chapter! Am so glad I can finally write Van Helsings part! It's been driving me mad pricking the back of my brain trying to get some attention.

Hope you all like it! Review either way!


	10. gathering the troops

Lucy Wanabe: Thanx for the review! Glad you liked Van's little rebellion! Was great to write!

JeanieBeanie: I think angst is easier to write lol I never feel any so my characters get it just piled on! To take up the slack.

Note: Sorry it's taking me so long to get these chapters up im just struggling to get them all together and into the action again think it'll flow better after these chaps are over and done with, and after I pass/fail my theory test next Wednesday :shudders:

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Not a penny.

Chapter 10

"What? Tell me your joking!" Amie yelled into her mobile. Bob looked away from the road to give her a questioning glance but obediently looked back when she gave him a pointed look and gestured meaningfully at the road a head.

"Nope not joking their right here, Carl's dissecting my toaster … has been for the last hour actually." Sarah said laughing and walking past the friar who was whittling away at the piles of wires and fuses that used to be her faithful old toaster.

"You let him have your toaster?"

"Well it was that or the TV."

Amie winced at the thought "Good going with the toaster…but what are you gonna do if you want toast?"

Sarah smiled slipping into the kitchen. "The old fashioned way with the grill."

"Sarah, don't use the grill."

"Why not?"

"You and gas and fire…just don't risk it." Sarah smirked when she heard Bob chuckle in the background.

"Hey I'm not that bad around the kitchen! Anyway we're off topic where are you?"

Amie glanced up and hurriedly read one of the road signs before it flashed past. "Lichfield, we'll be home in about twenty mins."

Sarah sighed in relief "Thank god your coming home a day early, we're mobilizing the troops at my house."

"Ok well I'll run home with Bob and drop my stuff off then I'll be round yours in about …forty five minutes?"

Sarah smiled looking forward to seeing her best friend for the first time in a month. "Great you need to hurry and save me from the mad Friar I managed to sneak the phone before he saw it and what it could do, but it's only a matter of time."

Amie laughed and hung up.

Bob waited patiently for her to explain but she just sat thoughtfully staring out of her window absently playing with her hair.

"So?" he prompted.

Sarah wandered back into the living room and laughed aloud when she saw Carl staring transfixed at the X-men movie Jory had put on.

"It's Van Helsing! How is that possible!" he was babbling pressing his face up against the screen to scrutinise the pictures.

"That's not him Carl…it's not Gabriel." Anna said softly from the sofa, baby Velkan was sleeping soundly in her arms.

"We can turn it off if you want Anna." Sarah said apologetically picking up the control from beside Marston.

The Princess smiled shaking her long brown hair. "No I like seeing him, whatever he looks like, it brings him home somehow."

Sarah grinned looking back at Wolverine on the screen "Yep Hugh Jackman's definitely easy watching."

Marston stretched and stood from the chair turning to see Jory rushing behind him and into it. "Jump in my grave why don't you."

Jory grinned and then turned his attention to Sarah. "So what did they say?"

"They'll be here in half an hour maybe more, did you manage to get in touch with Chris?"

Marston nodded "He can't get out of uni for another week and he can't afford the train back so he's stuck down there."

"We can't wait a week." Anna said immediately. "We can't even wait a day if we are going to do anything we have to go back tonight when it gets dark in your world."

"Why then?" Jory asked curiously, sniggering when Carl gave a yelp of shock and rolled back on to his arse when Wolverine's claws shot out.

Anna stood and began to pace restlessly. "We've already lingered too long, the village may have been destroyed already."

Carl stood looking flustered and brushed down his robes. "Yes, I have a theory that those creatures…"

"Zombies." Jory supplied helpfully.

Carl blinked "Err…zombies…I believe their like vampires in respects that they cannot tolerate sunlight or in fact any daylight, their eyes and skin are just too sensitive to it. It seems that whenever we open a portal from our world to yours during the night it is always daylight here, so we're hoping…"

"If you open a portal during our night it'll be day in your world." Sarah finished.

"Great night woods." Marston said happily.

"I'm gonna see if Tony's home." Sarah said quickly rushing to retrieve the phone from the kitchen, she didn't want them to see how freaked the whole idea of going back to Transylvania made her.

She'd died there…nearly three times, she'd been back every night in her nightmares. Going back for real was something she'd never considered and going back to face a Zombie army and it's new master without Van Helsing…it didn't sound like her perfectly planned summer was going to be any different than the last.

The hollow ringing of the phone calmed her slightly as she paced the small kitchen smiling when she heard Jory replacing X-men with Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

"See this is you. Faramir Captain of Gondor."

Carl's voice rose in astonishment. "Look at my hair! It's long! I look good."

Sarah chuckled "You won't be saying that after what happens to you in Return of the King!" she called.

She jumped slightly when a sleepy voice grunted a greeting over the phone line.

"Hello?"

"Tony! Hey…er you sound terrible.

The rustle of bed clothes sounded over the receiver followed by an exaggerated yawn. "I was sleeping woman!"

Sarah laughed "Tony it's gone three in the afternoon and your still sleeping!"

Tony grunted . "Yeh well you don't work sixteen hours a day, I do eight hours at the bookies everyday from 10 am to 7 at night then I wait three hours and go to do the night shift at ASDA till 7 next morning then I get two hours sleep before I have to get up for the bookies again! I haven't slept properly for fourteen days!"

"That's crazy! What do you need two jobs for? No wonder I haven't seen you around lately."

"Yeh well I get paid a shit load of money for it so it's worth it."

Sarah laughed "No it's bloody not! Do you even get the weekend off?"

She could hear him pacing his room in the background.

"I get 20 hours off on Sunday that's it I'm knackered. If I shave I get one of those 3'clock…err…4'clock…"

Sarah smiled "5'clock shadows." she prompted.

"5'clock shadows yeh, those. I haven't had a haircut in four months I look like Chewbacca!"

She laughed "I gotta see that, you can show me when you come down in a bit."

"What for?"

"Well you remember last year…Vampires, near death experiences…actual death experiences?" she prompted.

Silence sounded over the other end of the phone. "You mean lesbian brides and you turning into a concubine love slave? Yeh vaguely."

Sarah groaned "I was not a love slave!"

"Yeh right, we don't know what happened and Dracula was a good looking guy, no one would blame you. Plus you had that weird obsession on him for years before." Tony teased apparently finally awake enough to take the piss out of her.

"Ok off topic Tony!" she hissed blushing and glancing around to check that ghostly Drac wasn't eaves dropping.

Tony chuckled "Sorry, so what about it? You having a party or something?"

"Er…Well it's a funny story actually…This morning me, Marston and Jory went back to Alton and we ran into some old friends." she said hesitantly.

"I'm waiting for the funny." Tony said after a pause.

"It was Anna and Carl…with zombies."

"What the Fu? Zombies! As in…Zombies!"

Sarah cringed at his horrified tone. "Yeh…zombies, as in Dawn of the dead, none of that half hearted shuffling crap these guys were grabby."

Tony sighed "So whose there with you?"

Sarah glanced into the living room wincing as Carl wrestled Jory for the remote.

"Go play with your toaster!" Jory yelled chuckling when he won and promptly sat on the remote to keep it away from the Friars eager hands.

Sarah laughed and stepped back into the kitchen leaning on the edge of the dinning table. "I'm guessing you just heard Jory, that's Carl he's yelling at, who desperately wants to destroy my tv. Marston's on the sofa with Anna and her baby."

"She has a sprog?" Tony exclaimed in amazement. "Way to go Van Helsing!"

Sarah ignored him "So can you get down here? Amie and Bob are on their way, Chris can't make it he's stuck at uni."

She waited patiently as he thought it over smiling as she pictured him pottering aimlessly around his room and muttering to himself. "Give me half an hour, your house is the one with the bush on the garden right?"

"Yeh don't go to the wrong one."

"Please woman I think I remember where you live."

Half an hour later there was a small knock at the door. Sarah stumbled over her dog pushing him back with her foot as she pulled the door open and found Tony on the step. His dark black hair had grown out falling a cross his forehead to touch the top of his eyes, she grinned when she noticed the small goatee that had grown in in the last month or so since she saw him.

The sound of the neighbours door closing and the sheepish look on his face made her laugh.

"You went to the wrong house didn't you." she said grinning fondly as he glared at her

"You'd think by now you would have put the house number plate up." he muttered stepping up to her.

Sarah laughed and pulled him into a hesitant hug happy to see him again.

"Hey Hongy!" Jory greeted him as they pulled apart and he entered the crowded lounge.

A few minutes later Amie and Bob finally arrived after emotional greetings all round and a quick run down of events Sarah dragged her friends up to her room to talk in private while Anna and Carl began to watch the Van Helsing movie with barely contained curiosity and enthusiasm.

Sarah lead her friends upstairs and opened the door to her annoyingly pink room.

The group entered the room settling awkwardly on to the bed and the computer chair.

"Hey you got a new Blade!" Amie exclaimed hurrying across to where a pewter athame sat beside the computer.

Sarah smiled proudly, "Yeh it's an Egyptian athame off E-bay."

"You can buy knives off E-bay? They let you do that?" Tony asked eagerly.

Marston chuckled looking around her room catching sight of her other Athame on the altar and the katana resting in its place above her bed. "Your like armed to the teeth!" he exclaimed.

Bob wandered up to Amie casually glancing around the altar, he held up her fire candle staring at the triangle engraved on the side. "What's the triangle for?" he asked curiously.

"I read about it in the De Vinci code." Jory said from the bed. "They worship it, right?"

Sarah nodded. "Sort of, it's a bit more involved than that."

Bob laughed "Sarah are you in some kind of Wiccan pyramid scheme?"

"How would that work?" asked Amie smiling.

Marston smirked shrugging "You put energy in and you get it out again."

Sarah laughed "I knew I shouldn't have brought you all in here."

She jumped when the door behind her creaked open and spun like a frightened rabbit expecting to see Dracula's dark silhouette bearing down upon her. Instead a small black nose poked it's way around and her dog bounded in rubbing his head against her leg affectionately.

"I thought Witches had black cats." Jory laughed.

She grinned kissing the course fur on the back of Toby's neck. "He's better than a cat."

Tony settled back on to the computer chair crossing his legs and arms to lounge with proud authority. "So what did you want to talk to us about?" he asked immediately.

Sarah cringed as her friends all turned to stare at her settling back to perch on the end of the bed and the trunk beneath the window.

"What did you dream about last night?" she asked the Chinese boy directly, settling cross-legged in front of him on the pink sheepskin rug that was her sisters pride and joy. Toby clambered possessively on to her lap.

Tony grinned "You want to hear about my erotic dreams?"

Bob laughed pulling Amie on to his lap, but his lone chuckle faded when he realised the others hadn't even cracked a smile? "Ok…I've definitely missed something." he muttered flustered.

Marston stepped forward "Raise your hands if you had a fucked up dream about Van Helsing last night."

Sarah and Jory raised their hands and waited patiently. One by one Tony, Amie and Bob did the same.

For a moment they sat in silence all of them choosing not to comment when Sarah began to unconsciously finger the twin scars on the side of her neck and Jory and Marston rubbed agitatedly at the jagged scars on their arms.  
Amie gave Sarah a fearful look. "I had a nightmare…about Van Helsing…we were all there."

Bob went pale. "I had that dream…with Anna having her baby."

"Van Helsing riding away" Tony added scowling.

"We all had it." Sarah whispered.

Jory scowled. "So all that stuff happened? He really left her…Van Helsing left Anna after everything that happened last year!"

"And now there are zombies." Marston added bitterly.

Sarah sighed "You help save the world and you turn your back for a few months…" she muttered sarcastically.

Bob ran a nervous hand through his hair making the shorter wisps stick up slightly at the back which Amie fondly brushed back with her fingers. He smiled at her before sighing and looking back at the rest of the group.

"So what do we do now? Do we go back?" he asked seriously.

A thoughtful silence descended on the group as each nervously considered this. Sarah swallowed hard unconsciously holding her dog closer until she could feel his heart beating against her chest slightly faster than her own reassuringly prominent pulse.

"Zombies." she whispered. "It's not even in the vampire league…but still, this time we wouldn't have Van Helsing with us." doubts flashed across each face.

No Van Helsing, no trained hunter to hide behind, no expert hunter to train them and pull them out of harms way. Just them facing an army of the undead with nothing but a sword and their friends at their backs.

Tony stood and walked across the room to stare at the Van Helsing poster that dominated the wall, he gazed critically at it for a few moments before turning to look at Sarah. "So…he needs our help this time?"

Sarah nodded. "Maybe…we don't know what's happened to him."

"He could be dead." Jory said seriously from his position on the bed.

"How long do we have to decide if we're going?" Amie asked weakly from her boyfriend's comforting embrace.

"Till it gets dark." Sarah whispered. "Then Anna and Carl are heading back with or without us."

Note: will be uploading next chapter 2moz night! Read and review! Sorry about delay again computer trouble lol can'tcha tell mercurys in retrograde! 


	11. Haunting me

Note: Hey not to shamelessly promote my own work or anything…well ok that is the general idea…I've started an original story on in the spiritual section called Pagan born. It's what I think the world would be like for me and my coven if the witch hunts ever started again in the present. If you feel like it check it out chapter ones up and chapter 2 is on its way!

Ne-who back to Van Helsing!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 11

A loud crash and screech from under their feet made the teens jump in alarm and the dog leap up barking madly and dashing for the stairs.

Sarah's eyes grew wide in horror. "Not the TV! Carl!" she yelled rushing out of her door and taking the stairs two at a time.

Her friends hurried behind her bracing themselves for the inevitable scene of destruction and the horrendous image of a large screen TV reduced to glass and wiring.

"Carl if that was the Tv I swear I'm gonna throw you to your fan girls!" the furious blond threatened when she burst through the lounge door.

She glanced automatically towards the Tv startled to find it intact and spotless the Van Helsing menu flashing animatedly from the Frankenstein monster to the raging Velkan werewolf. Her relief was short lived when she found Carl cowering behind her mothers overturned pine trunk the contents scattered across the living room carpet, old baby photos of her and her sister staring up at her in disarray from the rug and the large bowl of popery added splashes of earthy colour to the mess.

Marston pushed through the door behind her and skidded to a halt as he found himself staring down the tip of Anna's newly drawn sword. The Princess was in a rigid battle stance, her eyes wild and frightened.

"It was him! Dracula lives!" the Princess yelled furiously.

Sarah's heart stopped, bile rose in her throat and her chest constricted painfully. Was it possible Dracula had shown himself to the Princess? Had he decided to share his spectral burden with her friends?

Amie drew close to her friend squeezing her trembling hand reassuringly. "What happened?" she asked shakily.

"Dracula!" Carl piped up from his hiding place, his basin cut blond hair peeping over the top of the overturned trunk, baby Velkan squirming irritably in his arms.

"Dracula's dead!" Jory pointed out fiercely though his eyes darted around the room as if he expected the winged beast of the count to pounce at him from behind one of the curtains.

Sarah stepped up to the alert Princess her eyes imploring her to be calm as she gently lowered the tip of her sword towards the carpet a phantom pain slicing through her stomach as she felt the cool metal beneath her fingers and dimly recalled the bite of Valerius steel through her own flesh.

"What…exactly did you see?" she asked hesitantly, half hoping the Princess would tell her that the count had walked into the room…maybe spoken to her and the Friar, something to lift the burden of his visits from her shoulders alone.

Anna met her gaze before her eyes shifted to a spot behind her and she stiffened, Sarah yelped when the Princess retched her sword up out of her grasp and pointed it menacingly. "Look he's there!"

The teens spun in fear and anticipation. Sarah's heart leapt as she pictured them seeing Dracula too, he would tell them what had been going on she wouldn't be alone in this haunting.

"Where? I don't see anyone." Bob exclaimed staring at the tv corner.

The teens squinted comically in that direction for a hint of a cape a cocky grin, anything remotely vampiric. To her annoyance Tony even turned to scrutinise Sarah shrugging sheepishly when she glared at him.

Anna trembled with annoyance still posed to attack, her sword inches from the Tv screen. "Are you all blind! He's mocking us!" she cried.

The teens turned back and took a closer look at the screen, the Van Helsing menu flickered to life once more menacing music echoing from the speakers and the monsters of the film flashing around the digital laboratory. Sudden comprehension dawned when a screen sized shot of Dracula transforming lingered longer than the rest, his features twisted in a devilish smile that began to contort until they were staring at the hell beast that was his true form.

Sarah didn't know whether she was laughing or crying as the others fell about with mirth and relief.

Marston walked up to the Princess and put a comforting arm round her shoulders.

"I don't think we've explained the whole Tv thing too well have we?" he asked apologetically and preceded to sit her calmly on the sofa while Tony and Jory picked Carl up from behind his temporary fort.

Jory laughed settling the Friar down into the arm chair while Amie gently retrieved baby Velkan from his arms and rocked him as she laughed trying to calm him.  
"We thought you got the whole movie thing! You watched X-men, Lord of the rings." Jory exclaimed chuckling.

Carl sat nervously in the chair looking for all the world like a startled rabbit. "Yes well…it was rather a shock seeing him just…appear like that."

"Maybe we should have stayed with you for that." Tony said sympathetically grunting as he pulled the truck back up and began to replace the photos that had fallen out.

Sarah watched it all with Bob by the door closing her eyes and sagging against the frame. Bob watched her with concern . "I'm pretty sure they didn't break anything." he tried awkwardly.

Sarah smiled "Glad to hear it…erm…I'm just going to take the dog out into the garden for a bit." she muttered forcing herself to smile and walk out of the room. Bob watched her go worriedly before seizing the remote and starting the Van Helsing movie.

"Anna, Carl this is your life!" he announced grinning.

Sarah wandered into the kitchen in search of her dog who she found cowering under her kitchen table. He hated loud noises, every year her family dreaded the few weeks leading up too and after fireworks night on November the 5th, the endless bangs and explosions were enough to turn her poor dog into a gibbering wreck for months afterwards, he'd only just gained back his confidence after the new years eve festivities six months ago and the crash in the living must have scared the poor creature half to death.

Whispering comfortingly to him she pulled him into her arms and wandered over to the window, she didn't know how she felt about all of this about being haunted by the guy that had murdered her, finding out her hero was probably dead or worse.

"This all used to be fun Toby." she whispered to the trembling dog in her arms.

Sighing she leant her head against the window and looking down into the evening garden. A shadow looked back, standing under the small tree beside the fence. She blinked rubbing her eyes tiredly, it had been a long day.

But sure enough ,when she looked back he was still there lurking in the shadows, beckoning to her. His eyes seemed to drink in the light around him like a cats, reflecting it back at her. She wondered how the others couldn't possibly notice the glowing orbs in the shadowy garden. She carefully placed Toby back on the kitchen floor and made her way into the hall pausing before the back door.

Toby was already there scratching and whining to be let out, to see off the intruder he could sense in his territory.

Sarah smiled as he looked up at her wagging his tail. "Do you think if I ignore him he'll go away?" she asked the dog almost hopefully.

A sudden breeze ruffled her hair, raising goose bumps on her skin. "Don't be coy Sarah." Dracula's voice whispered in amusement.

She gritted her teeth in annoyance at the cocky tone to the voice. "Still an arrogant bastard." she groaned resigning to her fate and opening the door.

Her friend's voices and the sound of the Van Helsing movie faded to a dull murmur as she stepped into the shadows of the garden. She stood silently under the pergola, a wooden structure her mum had put up the previous summer. Ivy vines had made their way up the sides, twisting and turning to make a canopy of leaves in the frame above her.

The overgrown night jasmine beside the backdoor, kept the light from the kitchen windows at bay casting eerie shadows over the lawn and the tree beyond it, the flowers sending a strong bitter fragrance out into the warm evening air.

The house faced the west casting the Garden in premature night around this time every evening when the sun hung low in the sky. She strained to see into the shadows, aided by her superior night sight.

There was no one beneath the tree.

It's branches swayed rhythmically in the breeze, the fairy wind chime chiming sweetly through the clear summer night, in time with its movements. But there was no Vampire, dead or un-dead, lurking in the shadows.

She frowned in confusion walking out in to the centre of the lawn and moving some of the lower branches of the tree away to get a better look.

"Dracula?" she whispered tentatively.

Her only answer was the soft ringing of the chimes. She sighed though she wasn't sure whether it was relief or disappointment. Turning she looked towards the house.

Toby was still standing in the doorway, his head was down to the floor and his ears were flat against his head. Sarah was astonished to see that he was growling and bearing his fangs viciously in her direction. She took in the garden suspiciously and turned to look towards the gate.

She stifled her scream of astonishment, as she came face to face with the grinning count.

"Boo." he whispered, grinning maliciously.

"You know that's really not funny!" she hissed at him trying to hide the slight twitching at the corner of her mouth.

"A ghost's prerogative I was trying out." he smiled "Slightly overrated I think."

Sarah nodded "Possibly." she frowned at his appearance, taking in his loose hair and the knightly armour he wore, more the ancient knight than the aristocratic count. He appeared to her the same way he had as her fevered dream guide, a friendlier appearance. Was he trying to gain her trust by appearing to her as such? More mind games to catch her off her guard perhaps.

Dracula noticed her gaze, he smiled and raised his arms twirling in a lonely waltz around her garden. "I believe you find this appearance a little less unsettling."

Sarah folded her arms watching him in guarded amusement. "Not when you do that I don't."

He stopped obligingly, finishing with an elegant sweep of his hand across his chest in a knightly salute. 'Damn if he were anyone else.' Sarah thought wistfully.

"Are you disappointed they can't see me?" he asked in amusement inclining his head in the direction of the house and the murmur of voices drifting out of the door.

Sarah ignored him irritated that he seemed to be able to read her mind. "Where's Van Helsing?" she asked aloud.

The count sighed in deep disappointment. "Must it always be business my dear Sarah?"

"It's why you're here isn't it? To give me answers…you said you were my guide, so guide me. Tell me how you knew Anna and Carl needed us, explain to me why I have them in my house, in my world… without Van Helsing!" she hissed conscious of being overheard by her friends.

"I'm afraid dear Gabriel has been…detained." the count said cryptically making a show of examining the bird table with great interest.

Sarah frowned. "Detained…where?"

Dracula sighed as if the subject bored him "I believe the Vatican had wished to sen him on a mission to Germany to deal with some rogue Vladleany."

"Vladleany?" Sarah asked in shock. "As in naked evil forest women Vladleany? He left Anna about to drop a baby for that!"

Dracula chuckled "Perhaps we should not dwell on the purpose of the mission?"

"I can't believe him!" Sarah continued ignoring him "Typical guy, first prospect of evil naked women and he's gone!"

"He did not get the chance to hear, let alone accept the mission. You know Gabriel, he is a law unto himself I believe he left the Cardinal quite speechless when he refused to even listen to the latest mission for God."

Sarah glared at him "But he still left Anna to go to Rome! Why couldn't he refuse the mission over…telegraph or whatever the hell they use back there?"

Dracula leant casually against the pergola shooting an amused glance at the agitated dog growling softly at him from the doorway. "I believe Rome put considerable pressure on him to go and no matter how much he may love Anna, his loyalties still lie there. It is a hard thing to be torn between love and duty." he said staring off into a distant past she couldn't share.

Sarah gave him a strange look "You really have changed haven't you." she whispered.

He glanced up sharply "I am not the creature you remember Sarah." he said huskily. Shadows played across his features giving his eyes a deeper intensity that sent a shudder through her body. He stepped towards her and she backed away warily.

"Maybe not." she said swallowing "But that doesn't' mean you don't look like him or talk like he did. It'll take a lot for me to trust you if I ever do. You didn't actually start off well invading my circle yesterday morning."

He gave her a sneering grin, brushing his hair back with an elegant sweep of his hand. "I must say your defences are harder to breach now…it was simpler when we first met, but I see my little novice Wiccan has learnt a few new tricks."

Sarah raised her chin proudly. "I've been studying psychic protection, no one will ever control me like you did, no one."

His eyes darkened "Perhaps they will be less forwards in their manipulations than I was, I always did have a certain flair for the dramatic."

He stood a few feet away from her now, his expression unreadable and the girl shuddered as she noticed that the breeze tugging at her hair and clothes had no effect on him. Once again she was reminded that she was talking to a dead man.

"Gabriel's return was compromised, he currently resides in a cell, powerless, weapon less awaiting his execution as a wanted murderer." he informed her coldly.

"Execution!…they can't, they wouldn't!" she stammered in horror.

Dracula held her gaze "To those people he is a cold hearted murderer, the most hunted man in Europe…Rome will not aid him…"

"They don't exist." Sarah whispered "They'd let him die to keep their secrecy."

Dracula nodded "Throughout their existence the Holy Order has kept it's secrecy through bloodshed, they don't look kindly on deserters, Van Helsing will be no different." he looked towards the house "Unless you and your friends are willing to help him that is."

Sarah swallowed finding her throat dry and painful. "What about the dead that are rising, their Master, what does he want?"

The count grinned at her "A man who can raise and enslave the dead, you know the name of such a creature."

Sarah nodded "A Necromancer." she whispered.

Dracula took a step closer to her backing her against the gate, his formless hand caressed the air above her cheek. "He is a dangerous man my love, Transylvania is in danger once more…perhaps Anna's whole world. They can not hope to survive without the left hand of God to guide and protect them."

The girl gasped as the air froze around her so close to his ghostly presence, her breath escaped in white mist.

Dracula gazed into her eyes, inhaling her scent into his ghostly lungs. "Gabriel needs allies."

Her eyes flashed defiantly, taking a deep breath she stepped through the apparition, shivering as an intense cold made her limbs grow numb and her lips blue. She turned to face him none the less as he turned to regard her with amazement and a wide grin.

"Yes I have definitely missed this!" he laughed aloud.

The warmth of the night began to clear the biting cold from her body and she shivered in relief, careful to hide it from the beaming count. "Allies…we barely survived last time…I didn't survive…I don't know if I can face all that again."

"So you would leave him to die…leave Anna and Carl against an army they can not hope to defeat?" he asked furiously. "Why must you be so difficult!"

"Why must you be so demanding! You think you can just turn up and tell me to do whatever you want and I'll do it? I didn't obey you in life what makes you being dead any different other than this time if I disobey you, you can't torture me!" she froze after her outburst but was relieved to hear the Van Helsing music echoing loudly throughout the house helping to drown out her conversation, the last thing she needed right now were awkward questions.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself she looked up at the count. He gazed at her an expression of sincere regret on his features, an expression that made him seem softer, an expression she thought she'd never see on such a cold face. The sight nearly made her burst into tears.

He sighed "I understand you will never forgive me for that and I make no excuses…but this is beyond the history we share, a world is in jeopardy, you have taken your own life for your friends before… do you not hold Van Helsing in that high esteem? Is he nothing but a fictional hero too you now, in all these months of watching that poor imitation of the truth you call his movie, have you forgotten the man behind the legend?"

She turned away walking forlornly into the house. Toby whimpered as she passed, backing away fearfully from the shadow that followed. The music grew louder as she approached the lounge, the theme blaring out of the speakers stirring her heart with excitement and anticipation as it always did.

She leant against the door frame smiling to see Carl staring open mouthed, transfixed at the depiction of himself on the screen. Her friends were gathered around him laughing and joking amused and excited to share Anna and Carl's wonder.

The princess smiling wistfully as Van Helsing placed his hat on her head beneath the broken windmill.

Sarah watched the characters on the screen, dripping wet Van Helsing placed the hat on Anna's head to keep off the rain and she smiled at him sadly.

"Do you have any family mister Van Helsing?"

Van Helsing smiled almost shyly glancing around at the blackened structure. "I don't know, I hope to find out someday it's what keeps me going."

Sarah closed her eyes at Anna's sorrowful expression. The Princess sighed and clutched baby Velkan close.

They were Van Helsings family, he should be with them…they deserved to be happy together. She couldn't turn her back on them.

Slowly she turned to Dracula, he met her gaze a smile of gratitude and excitement on his face.

"Alright." she whispered "I'll go…I won't force my friends they can make their own choice."

He bowed low and vanished . Silently she walked into the room and was met with cheerful greetings and crude comments from Marston and Jory in regards to the movie so far.

Settling down among them she watched the rest of the film unfold and announced at the end when Van Helsing and Carl rode off into the sunset.

"Carl, Anna I'm coming back with you. What ever happens I'm not going to let you face it alone." she stated proudly.

She laughed when Anna hugged her with gratitude and Carl beamed at her from the chair. The trio turned and regarded the rest of the teens hopefully.

Tony was the first to stand, he sighed dramatically and placed a casual arm round the blond girls shoulder. "I suppose I'll have to come then since your begging me."

Amie stood then pulling Bob to his feet. "Me and Bob are coming!" she announced much to everyone's surprise.

"I'm driving!" Marston announced.

"Yeh we can see if stump's still there." Jory laughed.

Sarah frowned in confusion "Stumpy?"

Jory grinned "The Zombie guy whose arms you chopped off when he was on Anna, he's stumpy."

The group laughed nervously, in a few hours they would be entering a war.

Note: ok im hopping this chapter was a little bit more entertaining than my last and im finally getting the ball rolling we're off to Vaseria and zombie ville! Yay!

Read and review flames always welcome makes me work harder. In regards to the last chapter I think I could have done better so I might go back and add to it sometime in the future and I will let you all no when I do! 


	12. blood portal

Thanx to my reviewers!

JeanieBeanie: Yeh girl power! Aha that takes me back to the dawn of time and a random pop group called the spice girls, they changed my life and I deny I was ever a fan. Street cred is a terrible thing. Newho yeh I missed lil drac so he had to pop up somewhere can't tell you how much fun it is to imagine him waltzing round my garden!

Fortune Zyne: Thanx! Coolie is what I aim for

Shoadow of the Moon: Yay new reviewer! Dracula will never be forgotten! It is my mission to get him and Anna back for the Van Helsing sequel steven summers will be getting my script any day now…

HughJackmanFan: The end? (insert evil laugh) My Friend I haven't even started yet!

ChristineMarquez: Tony does look at me like that, he keeps telling me I'm gonna give birth to the devil someday, or that im cursing him lol I'm like just give me a reason…

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 12

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Amie asked clutching Bob's arm as the group made their way in to the dark Alton woods.

Marston glanced back down the group then returned his attention to the path ahead and the small beam of light from his torch that barely picked out the dirt trail from the damp foliage around and across it.

"It looks different in the dark, but I think we're on the right path." he called back confidently, smiling when he climbed over a familiar fallen tree trunk.

"You think?" Jory asked grinning and sticking the light from his own torch beneath his chin, casting long dark shadows over his face and cawing like a demented Crow into the dark trees.

He laughed when Amie glared at him grinning slyly back, he didn't watch the dark path in front of him so promptly stumbled over a tree root to land face first in a muddy puddle.

He cursed loudly when five torch beams rested on him and his friends erupted with laughter.

"And that, Jory, is why you should use the torch properly." Tony sighed sarcastically grinning as he sauntered past.

"We for once I'm glad it wasn't me." Carl said smiling as he helped the soaking boy to his feet.

Sarah hid a chuckle as she brought up the rear just a little way back from the group.

She was the only one without a torch her vampiric night vision allowing her to see through the deepest shadows, to her it was no different to walking through the woods on a sunny day when the sun's rays shone green through the canopy and spotted the grass with yellow light. She could picture that perfectly…well she could if she wasn't trying to lie terribly to her mother on her mobile.

"It's for a few weeks, three at the most…no I'm not sure how many exactly…the dogs fine he's in the Horninglow kennels… you know, the ones that open out on to the forestry commission?…I've paid already don't worry about that …yes I put the shirt I was wearing yesterday in with him."

She groaned at the thought of the money she'd just spent putting the dog up and the heartbroken look he'd given her when she'd handed his lead to the owner.

But as guilty as she felt, there was no-way she could have taken him to Van Helsings world, for all she knew the zombies ate dogs…ok they probably ate people, but she didn't really want to be running for her life and have to stop so he could sniff at a random lamp post.

"Yeh it's with Amie's family." she lied, blushing when Anna turned to give her a reprieving look from just ahead. "I'll call you when I can but I don't think they get a signal in that part of Wales…ok…love you too…Bye!"

She breathed a sigh of relief and promptly turned off her phone running to catch up with the group while she slipped into her hip bag.

Dracula slipped out of the shadows to her right and somehow managed to keep pace with her whist giving the impression he was having a leisurely stroll. "Tsk Tsk my dear, lying to your mother! And here I thought you were a little angel."

She flashed him an evil grin. "What you can't see my halo?" she whispered breathlessly as she caught up with Anna.

The Count gave an exaggerated sigh. "All too clearly." he muttered melting back into the darkness.

Anna looked at the breathless girl as she caught up. "What did your mother say?" she asked with interest adjusting the blanket around the sleeping baby in her arms.

Sarah shrugged. "She's worried…mum always could tell when I was lying about something."

Anna nodded brushing the unruly black wisps of hair off baby Velkan's forehead. "Mothers have an instinct for that sort of thing. My mother always did." She gave a sad chuckle looking ahead at the path though not really seeing it. "Velkan and I used to sneak into village at night and make wagers on each other to enter the graveyard, we were foolish really…Mother knew what we were up too and waited up one night to catch us in the act." Anna's voice grew sad and distant. "I've never seen her so afraid and angry…"

They walked on in silence Sarah absently testing the draw of the katana strapped to her back. 'Three weeks at most.' she'd told her mum. Three weeks…they were about to disappear again, voluntarily this time. She'd listened to her friends calling their parents one by one to lie to them.

"I'm camping with Murphy and Aran." Marston had said. "Back in a coupl'a weeks might go down to the coast."

Amie and Bob had said they were going back to their flat for the holidays, no one would call there, no-one would know whether they arrived or not. A sobering thought.

Tony's excuse was his girl friend in Birmingham. Jory's was camping with the group. He'd come off the phone laughing and saying "God I love being a legal adult they let you do anything!"

What if those calls were the last they'd make? She doubted her mother would survive losing her daughter again, or her twin losing her sister. Well this time they had a time limit, this time she would get back safe and sound and her friends would too because she refused to go through all that again.

She remembered vividly the month she'd spent in hospital with severe "Blood poisoning" as the doctors had diagnosed it. One of the nurses had laughed and joked "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were dead!" She'd stumped the Doctors, bearing scars that looked years old but her mother informed them were new. Her blood was still her own but there were mutations in it, the sort of thing that gave her, her superior night sight.

"The Dracula Gene." Tony had cheerfully informed her on his visits.

Her friends had escaped hospital weeks before she was finally, all be it, reluctantly released. They'd been treated for minor injuries and a few major.

Bob still limped slightly on his bad leg and displayed the scars proudly where the doctors had pinned the bones back into place, he'd had the longest hospital stay of a good two months before he learnt to use his crutches properly.

Jory and Marston compared the stitches on their wrists weeks after. Jory trying to convince Marston that Sarah's fangs had done way more damage than a mere nip from a "demented Ewok/jawa- hybrid -midgit thing."

As they finally entered the clearing and stood facing the spot where the portal would materialize she pushed these thoughts aside there was no going back now.

"This is it." Marston announced playing the beam of his torch over the chains of the large infamous tree towering over the clearing.

Amie shivered. "Why couldn't it be flowers? Just a dimensional portal surrounded by blue bells or tulips."

Sarah grinned "Tree in chains adds atmosphere." she stated proudly.

They watched Carl expectantly as he retrieved his portal device from the folds of his habit and quickly checked it over.

"So do your thing." Bob said expectantly.

Carl blinked looking sheepishly round at all their expectant faces. "Err, well I would…but there is a slight problem." he shifted his feet nervously.

"Like what?" asked Tony apprehensively.

Carl held out the small remote, the vial on the back was conspicuously absent leaving a yawning gap in the wiring. "Well I managed to fix the device, but the main component was almost irreplaceable."

"Bloody brilliant." Bob sighed running an agitated hand through his hair.

"Does this mean we can't go?" Amie asked almost hopefully.

Jory stepped up "Almost? You mean that green sludge Sarah got covered in?" Jory asked leaning over the Friar's shoulder to get a closer look.

Marston shot Sarah a grin remembering the look on her face when she'd fallen back through the portal and found her favourite skirt and top covered in green slime.

Carl winced "Yes that…about that."

Amie joined Jory making the poor Friar feel very crowded suddenly. "What was it?" she asked curiously.

Carl slipped from between them and up to Sarah.

"Yeh what was it Carl?" she asked morbid curiosity getting the better of her.

"Well you see … your not going to like it."

"Just tell me, it washed off so it doesn't bother me." she assured him confidently.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Carl."

Tony shone the torches harsh beam on to his face like a cop interviewing a difficult suspect. The poor Friar seemed to shrink under the pressure.

"Alright! You see the only way to create a stable portal is to have something from both worlds on your side and connected to the portal." He sighed in relief when Tony stepped back apparently satisfied.

"So that stuff was?" Bob prompted impatiently.

The Friar met Sarah's eyes apologetically. "When Dracula turned you… he mixed his blood with yours, your DNA contains both yours and his genetic codes. You are the catalyst that opens the portal."

Sarah swallowed "So it was…"

"The vampire organs you regurgitated last year." he said quickly. Bile gathered in the back of the girl's throat as she shivered in disgust.

"Oh god I am never gonna be clean again!" she cried in horror.

Amie looked at her in horror "Tell me you took a shower and burned your clothes!"

Sarah rubbed fiercely at her skin trying to rid herself of the filth that might still linger "Goddess I wish I had!" she groaned. "But I couldn't shower! Carl was taking my stuff apart! I had to guard the Tv!"

Carl blushed apparently eager to press on. "Yes, well could I kindly ask you to give me your hand?"

The poor girl froze looking at him with barely disguised suspicion. "Er…can I ask why?"

"If you want to get into my world you'll do as I say and not ask questions." the Friar said somewhat impatiently.

Tony grinned "Do as he says woman you can't fight a man of God!"

Sarah scowled at him but reluctantly held out her hand. Carl grasped it firmly. "Marston, Jory would you…hold her still for me?" he enquired.

Marston and Jory took up positions either side of the poor girl grasping her gently but firmly, holding her in place and making sure she couldn't pull out of Carl's grasp.

"Is it too late to go home?" she asked pitifully nausea twisting her stomach.

Carl held her gaze compassionately. "this won't hurt a bit." he assured her.

Jory sniggered "Ever notice how doctors only say that when it's gonna hurt like hell?"

The group all turned to glare at him while Carl made a large show of examining Sarah's hand and then taking advantage of the distraction, reached into his habit and passed a scalpel across her skin with all the swift ruthlessness of the best doctors.

"Son of a…!" she yelped trying to yank her hand away as warm blood began to flow down her arm from the long cut across her palm.

Marston and Jory winced in sympathy there faces flashing with guilt and muttering apologies to their friend.

Carl placed the remote device into her blood filled hand and pressed it down firmly. Amie held her other hand squeezing it in sympathy when her friend gritted her teeth and hissed in pain.

"Sorry but it is necessary." Carl said sounding anything but sorry.

He turned and pressed the red button aiming the tip of the remote between two of the dark forest trees. The blood on the device seemed to change into a pulsing mist flashing with bursts of electricity, it reached out tendrils of red light pulling and tugging at the air before it. The teens watched in amazement as a brilliant flash of light illuminated the woods around them and they found themselves bathed in cool winter sunlight.

Beyond the portal stood a daylight winter forest fresh snow heaped upon the ground the oldest showing the barest hints of the battle fought in that spot hours before.

Sarah pulled bitterly out of her friends grasps, accepting the cotton wool pad and bandage Tony handed her and hissing while Anna hurriedly bandaged her wound. "You could have warned me!" she hissed at Carl.

The Friar blinked "I thought it best that you didn't get chance to panic first."

Grumbling the girl stomped forwards and stepped through the portal. "I think I'll take my chances with the zombies." she muttered darkly.

The others followed soon after looking around the woodland nervously as they slipped on the first patches of snow.

"We've not even started yet and Sarah's hurt, why do I think that isn't a good omen." Bob muttered to Marston before he miss placed his foot on some ice and ended up looking at them from the hard cold ground one leg still partly in his own world.

Marston laughed helping him to his feet.

Sarah sighed deeply willing herself not to be angry at her friends, above her the trees of a deep evergreen forest shone deep earthy green sunlight sparkled on the few patches of snow that had managed to settle on the thin branches. Amie stepped up beside her looking with concern at the blood stained bandage. "Are you ok or deeply disturbed that he used a scalpel on you?" she asked smiling.

Sarah had a small phobia of scalpels ever since and unfortunate incident involving her thumb and using a scalpel to cut potatoes up in GCSE biology.

Sarah smiled "Possibly just the scalpel thing." she answered.

Bob wandered over to where Carl was examining the portal, beyond the shimmering perimeter the Dark Alton woods stood beneath the quarter moon, pitch black but for the meagre sunlight that filtered through the portal.

"You know you look at this thing and you think "Yes, easy step in step out" so why the hell do I always end up arse over tit on the other side?" he asked in annoyance.

Carl closed the portal and regarded him eagerly. "Well I have a theory that as you cross the boundary between worlds the shift in reality and the pressure of the anti-matter disturbs…"

Bob backed away with his arms up in surrender "It was rhetorical!"

They all took in the light woodland relieved to see day light and not the dark night that the enemy thrived in.

"I'm just glad we actually guessed right about the time differences…err…is it possible to have portal lag? Like jet lag only…with a portal…portal lag." Jory wondered aloud.

Anna smiled at him "Come on we can reach the village by noon if we start now, once we get to the manor we will have a few hours to rest and prepare before we move on." she secured Baby Velkan in her arms and turned to lead the way through the trees.

Marston grinned "So no welcome home? No nostalgic "Hey remember when Sarah tried to kill us?" reminiscing when we get there?"

"Ah good times" Bob muttered dreamily.

Anna smiled "We don't have time…unless you wish to stay past sunset and face the walking dead yourself?"

"Just call me Shaun, baby!" Marston exclaimed, Sarah rolled her eyes but grinned none the less.

"I thought your name was Marston?" Carl exclaimed in confusion.

"Err…it's a film. Shaun of the dead…he fights zombies? It's not funny if you have to explain it." the boy huffed a little bit put out.

Jory laughed "I didn't think it was funny before."

They made their way out of the clearing, the snow still held traces of the fight that had occurred only the night before when Anna and Carl had fled in darkness. Dead blood stained the snow drifts trampled down by clubbed and awkward foot prints.

Sarah glanced to the side when something caught her eye and immediately regretted it when her eyes met those of a body, mutilated and covered in a light sprinkling of snow the stumps of it's arms clear and black in the patch of sunlight it lay on.

Tony stepped up beside her wincing at the grisly sight. "No place like home."

Amie gasped in horror, turning and dragging Bob quickly after the Princess and Carl.

Marston strode up to get a look "Hey Sarah it's your buddy stumpy! Guess that means his arms are around here somewhere."

A high pitched shriek sounded up ahead and the teens rushed up the path in alarm to see Amie scrambling to her feet having tripped over one of the unfortunate zombies missing appendages.

Bob was trying desperately to calm the poor girl down while Carl used some twigs to seize the disgusting object and carry it before him like a demented trophy, hoping to get a better look at it in his room at the manor.

Amie stumbled off the path and behind some trees pushing a concerned Bob away when he tried to hold back her hair. "Amie I'm trying to help, let me help honey." he pleaded uselessly.

Sarah rushed up to help him "Err Bob do you mind turning your back a minute?" she pleaded oddly.

"What!"

"She really needs to throw up and she can't physically be sick in front of you, it's like she thinks you won't love her if she's sick and you see it." she explained hurriedly.

The poor boy blinked in confusion but dutifully turned his back and stepped around the tree. He winced at the obvious sounds of vomiting coming from behind it.

Sarah led the pale girl unsteadily back to him. "God I hate Transylvania." Amie hissed weakly accepting his comforting hug. "I'm sorry hunskull."

Sarah caught up with the group who were all keeping their distance from Carl who was developing the annoying habit of forgetting the human arm he was carrying and swinging it towards those unfortunate enough to drift to close.

"Is Amie ok?" Jory asked glancing back to where she leant against her boyfriend her cheeks carrying an unhealthy green ting to them.

Sarah shuddered "Nope, not even close to. Can't blame her for throwing up I was close and I was the one who chopped the damn things off!"

"How'd you know she couldn't throw up in front of Bob?" Marston asked curiously.

"Woman's intuition…that and a long phone conversation about a month ago."

"Indeed"

They stalked on all careful not to look too closely at any suspicious piles of snow upon the way, feelings of de'ja vu settled around them as the approached the crest of a small rise and found themselves looking down on the Transylvanian village of Vaseria.

Note: wow long one! Ok guys keep those reviews coming! I'm back in full swing now if you couldn't tell! 


	13. Graveyard

JeanieBeanie: Marston loves that he has a fan!

HughJackmanFan: Sorry your having trouble getting the chapters up don't know what's going on there.

Ledae Aria : Hmmm ok yeh could have got Anna a baby carrier but why make things easier for the poor lil princess? She's a warrior I'm not making her soft by giving her accessories lol if she can run and fight in those heels adding a baby to the equation should be easy for her :D

Thanx to all my reviewers sorry for the delay between chapters you think your passed one crisis and five more appear.

Disclaimer: I own nothing so please don't sue me! my mum would kill me if you sued me.

Chapter 13

The most unsettling thing you will ever encounter is a ghost town. A place that should be teaming with life where the soft murmur of many people talking at once should be ever present, occasionally lost in a burst of carefree laughter, maybe the occasional angry yell or cry of fear but instead is eerily silent and abandoned. Houses and streets deserted, not a soul to be seen wandering along the cobblestones or sitting at a window.

You see these places in the old movies.

Whole towns maybe even cities…deserted. Doors left ajar, broken glass…treasured possessions lying forgotten and filthy on the cobble streets. A portrait of a young family half submerged in a muddy puddle, a doll ragged and filth ridden far from the child that cried for it.

The things that were abandoned in haste or simply because they were too heavy.

In the end when your fleeing for your life anything that holds you back, no matter how precious, is thrown back at your pursuers in the hopes that they might spare you a few small moments to make the tree line or leap across running water, anything that will lead to your survival.

These were the last moments in the small village of Vaseria, when the dead had appeared from the mountains falling upon the confused villagers with bloodcurdling cries of urgency and bloodlust. No vampire attack had ever been so fierce, no enemy so numerous as the hordes of dead that shambled alarmingly fast along the alleyways, wrenching off doors and stumbling into houses to attack the living in their beds.

Many of the houses boasted charms and talismans to ward off evil, strings of Garlic and horse-shoes framed their windows and doors, traditional superstitious wards that were torn and crushed under foot as the dead tossed them aside with little more than a hiss and the barest flinch.

Terrified screams alerted neighbours who awoke to find their children screaming and their houses accosted.

Within the walls of the Inn a young barmaid clutched her nephew, Nathan, close as they cowered in the darkness hearing the heavy footfalls of the dead boy's father, long since buried a year before, as he stumbled up the stairs.

Child and woman had survived supernatural butchery barely 12 months ago. The young boy and his father had been attacked by Dracula and his brides one night, Nathan had only survived thanks largely too a mysterious young woman and her friend who he had never seen again.

The barmaid herself had survived a werewolf attack and been rescued by the bashful Friar Carl, whom she still saw from time to time up at the manor, in the company of the Princess and her new husband, and who she probably would never see again.

Both child and woman had been living on borrowed time, surviving what they shouldn't have survived…neither believed they would escape this new threat.

Nathan, barely five years old now began to tremble violently, clutching his aunt's arm so hard his nails broke the skin. She merely held him closer, tears of terror rolling down her face as the shambling and horrifically distorted corpse of her brother in law entered the room.

She leant forward slightly to see through the small gap in the wardrobe doors and wished that she hadn't.

The corpse was hideous to look at, rotted almost beyond recognition in the months it had lain undisturbed. Straw like hair fell, over-grown down a shrivelled back. His fine funeral clothes had rotted in the damp cheap coffin to become filthy rags, hanging from the shrivelled parchment skin. The rags swayed thinly at the barest movement, thin cobwebs of material barely sparing them the sight of his shrunken and festering flesh.

The barmaid, Anise, held her breath and tensed as the creature stood motionless, less than a meter from the wardrobe where they hid among moth eaten winter cloaks.

The creature that had once been so dear to the young woman and child in life, drew itself up astonishingly high, the grotesque crack and pop of it's rigor-mortis ridden limbs echoing with disgusting volume, making the small boy gag and his aunt fight sudden nausea.

The corpse stretched out and up, pushing out it's exposed ribs, stretching the still present lungs inside. It opened it's mouth and took a sudden forced breath in. The skin around it's shrivelled nostrils cracked and black viscous fluid flowed freely down it's chin, filling the room with the scent of rotting flesh.

Anise watched as the flesh on his throat stretched with the sudden air passing through it and the wounds from the vampire attack that had taken his life became visible, the torn skin of his throat flapping uselessly as most of the air escaped through the ragged holes that had so brutally yielded his life to the leech that clung to him.

Nathan's nails dug deeper into Anise's flesh and she winced, looking down to see the bloody furrows he had unintentionally inflicted in his terror. Warm crimson trails were already making their way down her skin. As the first drop hit the floor beneath her, the corpse whipped it's head around impossibly far to look directly at the partially closed wardrobe.

As it scrambled to get rotting fingers through the gaps and tore the doors off their hinges, Anise realised that it had been sniffing for blood and it had found it. It was her last thought before she screamed at Nathan to run, practically throwing the child to the side as she launched herself at the creature.

The boy had fled hearing her screams cut terrifyingly short as he dived down the stairs. Stumbling and falling the last few, he rolled and landed painfully in the open doorway. Scrambling to his feet the child froze as he beheld the nightmare before him, people he'd known his entire life were torn limb from limb before his eyes in the dirt and cobbled streets outside the inn.

He watched as the men of the village took up weapons to defend their homes and their children, the bravest standing fast as wave upon wave of the dead broke against them. When the boy found the strength to move, he fled with the small crowd of survivors running for the safety of the mountains. As he entered the first line of trees he happened to glance back and his eyes met that of the undertaker.

Even with such a distance between them the child heard the man's screeching laughter as he cleaved his victims apart with an evil looking scythe, the grim reaper himself had finally claimed the village of Vaseria.

As the small band of survivors headed east to the mountains and the coming dawn still hours away, the dead made prey of Princess Anna as she fled reluctantly from her family home.

Now in the silence of the early morning bathed in bright winter sunlight, the Princess stepped with deep sorrow on to the cobbles that marked the small village. She took in the destruction around her, squinting through the thin mist that drifted mournfully between the buildings, to count the victims she had so cowardly abandoned. Guilt pulled at her heart until she glanced back at the small band of friends glancing uneasily around themselves at the carnage, if by their presence she managed to prevent a greater evil, then her people might yet forgive her. A small hope.

Silently she led the way through the first street and into the town centre, the small group of reluctant companions filing up behind her. As they passed body upon body, both old and newly dead, they unconsciously drew together tripping over their feet as each one tried not to be the last one of the group, or the first.

Carl had somehow managed to manoeuvre himself into the centre of the group, apparently all too used to situations that required no part of his body to be exposed to an attack that lay hidden either side of it, over a year of working with Van Helsing and Anna tended to build up survival skills, he was certain when pressed he could even wield a blade confidently, though, thank the lord, he had never had too.

Sarah found herself the reluctant rear cover for the group, she glanced around herself breathing through her mouth to avoid the foul stench of death that coiled around her. Feeling all too exposed she reached back and drew her katana from it's sheath.

The weight felt good in her hand, the blade flashing in the weak sunlight making the small tiger carved just below the hilt glint with sudden life and she began to gain confidence, taking her position as rear guard with a steady hand.

Tony fell back to keep pace with her, unconsciously placing himself on her right which was most vulnerable, protective in a land that had taken her from him too many times.

While she watched the back of the group for unlikely attackers he watched where they were stepping desperately fighting the sudden urge to vomit when they passed a corpse that was being ravaged by crows.

No one trusted themselves to speak, the urge to vomit was more than they could control as they watched the filth at their feet with deep concentration to avoid any of the numerous body parts that littered the ground.

As they expected, the town square had been the centre of the attack, body upon body turning the snow crimson with blood.

"Oh God…" Amie spluttered staring determinedly anywhere but at the scene before her.

They all stared in horrified silence Sarah's sword trembling within her grasp, her face as pale and sickly as the day she'd been drained by Dracula.

"It's a massacre…they didn't even…" her voice broke as she caught sight of a tiny hand sticking out from beneath a woman's body.

Carl crossed himself muttering a prayer for the dead and kissing the small rosary he always carried upon his person.

Anna walked forwards clutching baby Velkan tightly to her chest as she saw some of the smaller bodies lying among the filth. Relief that her own child still lived was weighed heavily with the knowledge that so many others did not.

"I should never have left." she muttered gritting her teeth with bitter anger and grief. Jory walked up to her laying a comforting hand on her arm.

"I don't think it would have changed anything if you had stayed." he said sadly.

The Princess turned to glare at him trembling with her rage. Wordlessly she handed him her baby unsheathed her sword and fell upon the corpse of one of the zombies who hadn't made it to cover before the light of dawn caught them. With primal screams of despair, fury and vengeance she tore it apart, using her sword to severe the limbs so she could kick them away from the young man that had been it's last victim.

"I abandoned them!" she yelled slipping in newly trampled snow as she brought her sword down over and over, sweating with the effort. 

"You had too!" Bob yelled. "If you hadn't you would be lying here with them now!"

The Princess turned on him angrily striding up until she towered over the startled youth. Amie stood at his side, her eyes watching the princess with fear and pity in their dark depths. Jory carefully passed a crying baby Velkan over to Amie when he realised Carl was still clutching his prized zombie arm.

Anna was breathing heavily with her exertions, standing a few inches short of the boy that stood flinching before her. "You know nothing of leadership…of battle." she spat bitterly.

Bob held her gaze with compassionate eyes and hidden strength showing briefly the man he might become, given time. "I know enough to know that a leader needs to know when to retreat and gather their forces, you had to survive to fight back and to bring us here to fight with you."

Marston stepped up behind him his gaze harsh. "There's nothing you could have done here other than die and take Carl and Velkan with you."

"My father would never have abandoned the village." the princess spat looking towards the distant tower of Valerius manor.

Sarah closed her eyes and pushed past her friends to stand just behind the distraught princess. "Your father did abandon the village…once." she whispered. The Princess froze, her body tensing with the words.

Sarah's friends gave her confused glances as she walked around the young woman until they were face to pale face.

"You did what he would have done…he abandoned his family, his kingdom and went searching for help…just like you've just done. Only he never came back, he left you and Velkan alone to fight and it nearly destroyed you both." Anna met her gaze coldly.

"That was different, it was necessary…"

"So was this."

The two woman regarded each other dark and light hair whipping around their determined faces in the chill winter breeze.

"Everything happens for a reason." Sarah whispered. "We don't have to know the reason only that we must trust in it…without us you might not get to Van Helsing, without Van Helsing there is no way you can go up against a necromancer."

Amie grinned leaning up to whisper to Jory "She talks like that when we go shopping, always manages to talk me into buying anything!" The boys smiled slightly at that and the tension that had surrounded the group on entering the village evaporated.

Anna glanced over at the teens and then back at the girl standing so determined in front of her and sighed, a small smile turning up the corners of her pale lips and her eyes flashing with amusement. "I think you've grownup since the last time we talked." she muttered relaxing.

Sarah grinned "Well I've died a few times now…it makes you look at things differently.

A sudden crash sounded from the Inn making them all start. Carl let out a small squeal of fear backing away from that general direction.

"Erm…I think there's something alive in there." he squeaked peering out from behind Tony.

Marston gave him a lopsided grin "Or dead…in a juicy flesh eating zombie kind of way."

Another crash from the within the dark structure took the dry humour from his words twisting them into a harsh warning.

"I think Carl should go in and see what it is." Tony announced suddenly.

"What!" yelped the Friar jumping back as though electrocuted, something soft gave way beneath his foot and he chose not to dwell on what it could be, instead focusing all of his attention on the foreboding building a head of him.

"Why Carl?" asked Jory smirking at the fearful look on the Friar's face.

The dark skinned boy shrugged "Well he's a holy man right he can go and exorcise it or something."

Bob laughed "Yeh smite it down old school style."

Amie shuddered electing a fit of giggles from the baby lying contentedly within her arms.

Anna took pity on her friend, drawing her sword. "No-ones making you go in there Carl." she reassured him stepping cautiously up to the broken front door.

She froze when a shadow darted clumsily past the opening avoiding the pale sunlight. "It's avoiding the sun." she muttered.

In response to her words, she heard the teens unsheathing the small Valerius daggers concealed beneath the winter coats they had donned, for the transition from the summer of their world to the bitter winter of Anna's. A small amount of pride filled her then, it appeared they hadn't forgotten the training she had done with them on their last visit.

The teens stepped up behind her in a flanking manoeuvre, Sarah appeared on her right with her Katana still in hand while Bob appeared at her left brandishing his silver Raven blade before him.

"Can you see anything?" the boy whispered as they stopped a few paces before the threshold and the Princess cautiously peered into the gloom.

"I need a light." she hissed in frustration.

Sarah flinched as a sudden memory assaulted her.

She was looking through vampiric eyes at Amie, Tony and Jory deep within the walls of Castle Frankenstein, the evil taunting voice of the creature she had been hissed from her throat as she backed into the darkness that surrounded them.

"My master told me of you." she taunted her vampiric self barely containing its enjoyment as they fought to see her in the shadow that she wore like a cloak.  
She watched in fascination as Amie reached slowly into her simple woollen jacket and grasped the cool hilt of her silver dagger, bringing it out so that it caught the fire light. Tony glanced at her in surprise as she angled the shinning blade, reflecting the light in the deep shadows that concealed the vampiress; it acted as a modern torch illuminating one tiny area at a time.

Acting quickly Sarah glanced back at the sun and angled the blade of her sword so it caught the light and cast it into the interior of the Inn. Almost immediately it hit the corpse that had been concealed within the shadows watching them.

As the sunlight fell upon dead flesh, the zombie let out a scream that sounded all too human and launched itself at the group crowding in the doorway. Anna cried out a warning and threw herself to the side to avoid the mindless creature. The teens scattered, watching with horror as the creature staggered into the daylight.

Another grating screech escaped it's tattered throat as the light touched it. Amie screamed when it turned dead eyes in her direction, attracted by baby Velkan's frightened wails. It took one weak step in her direction before collapsing in a boneless heap and joining its brethrens in renewed death.

"Is it…really dead?" Amie asked breathlessly.

Bob reached out and took Sarah's sword and approached the creature. The group held it's breath as he prodded it with his foot, when it didn't respond he let out a furious yell and brought the sword around in a savage arch that took the creatures head off at its shoulders and released a fountain of foul smelling black fluid that pooled in the snow around it.

With weak thanks he returned the sword to Sarah and pulled Amie into a fierce hug mindful of the small child in her arms but relieved that the zombie had died when it did.

Sarah eyed the blade with disgust wiping the black muck off on the rags that covered one of the zombie bodies behind her. "You could have cleaned it." she muttered.

Jory and Carl stared down at the headless corpse. The boy grinned suddenly giving the Friar a playful shove "There you go Carl, forget the arm now you have a whole body to play with."

Carl smiled back at him "It does look that way doesn't it and I believe you can help me carry it back to the manor."

Note: ok sorry again for the delays Christine-Marquez knows what a bloody awful time im having right now with problem upon problem of the real life variety so hope you can forgive me for the delays.

Read and review as always! 


	14. welcome home

HughJackmanFan: thanx for the reviews lol I'm glad I have a dedicated reader even if your reviews are sometimes slightly confusing :D 

Lucy Wanabe: glad your computers sorted I couldn't live without mine if it broke down! Thanx for the great review, yeh for some reasons I can describe zombies in Technicolor lol

JeanieBeanie: lol sorry about the lack of Marston-ness in the last chapter hoping to make up for it in this one.

Christine Marquez: Just for you a little less zombie-ness in this chapter :D lol but another thing you think I over do sometime and that's Angst! Mwahahaha

Note: for the sake of my American readers…which…ok is pretty much everyone. (Damn that makes my little Island of Britannia seem tiny, if there are any fellow Uk peeps reading this would love to hear from you!) The show Most Haunted is a programme on LivingTv following a team of investigaters and their medium Derek Achorah as they travel the country spending nights at haunted locations. The main host is Yevette Fielding who is famous for her terrified screaming and incredible paranoia in the locations.

Disclaimer: Van Helsing, Bill Bailey and most haunted are owned by big rich companies so I don't own them…so don't sue. (My aren't I articulate today?)

Chapter 14

The rectangle opening cut in the stone that passed for a window, allowed a thin beam of sunlight to penetrate the darkness of the stinking cell. Van Helsing blinked hissing as the sudden brightness made his eyes ache and water.

He cursed as he shifted out of it, his joints protesting in their heavy manacles at the sudden movement. At this angle he could see part of the sky shimmering clear and blue in a world not enclosed by four walls of cold stone, occasionally the wind would blow in his direction carrying with it the faint scents of the city below his tower and maybe the hint of a green forest beyond that.

At such times he could close his eyes and imagine himself down there among the people or the trees, free to feel that elusive wind on his face. He'd always see himself walking in Vaseria or in the woods beyond, perhaps on the coast looking out at the Adriatic sea with Anna and their child by his side.

He could almost imagine that he was home.

The cell rang with sudden laughter then, that echoed along the empty corridor to startle the two fearful guards at their posts. Gabriel Van Helsing found the idea of a home extremely amusing. He hadn't thought of anywhere as home since…well he couldn't remember a home.

Parts of his past had opened up for him over the last year or so. He remembered his long years as an ancient knight of the holy order. He remembered the many battles since then, and ironically the companionship he'd shared with his greatest foe, Vladislaus Dragulia who became count Dracula after his betrayal.

But never a place he'd called home…until now.

He'd found a home in the shape of a lonely valley nestled in the Carpathian Mountains, a small village surrounded by wild forests and horrific legends, a place that held the family home of his beloved wife and their new babe.

Lost in his dream world, Van Helsing failed to notice the sudden temperature drop in the room, but his senses did pick up upon the faint tang of the supernatural.

He turned sharply, eying the shadows that surrounded the small room.

"Show yourself." he growled testing the weight of the chains on his body and the strength in his limbs, gauging his chances of ably fighting a creature of darkness in his current condition.

A small chuckle sounded to his right and he whirled to see a figure standing hidden in the darkness.

"Well I must say the beard is very becoming." came a familiar voice.

Van Helsing narrowed his eyes as Dracula stepped gracefully from the shadows and gave him an elegant bow, his hair slipping free from the silver clip that held it in it's tight ponytail. The count straightened up brushing the stray strands back with a sweep of his hand and flashed the bewildered hunter a cheerful grin.

"Hello Gabriel."

"Dracula." Van Helsing spat coldly. "Your dead, monster."

Dracula grinned "That I am, I believe, dear Gabriel, that you may have just lost what little sanity you possessed, although who can blame you?" he said wrinkling his nose at the smell and state of the cell. He took in the soiled straw and damp walls with the air of a true aristocrat apparently oblivious to the waves of hatred rolling off the cell's long term occupant.

"So your some figment of my imagination then?" Gabriel questioned disgusted that even he, the left hand of god, was victim to yet another weakness of the human condition.

Dracula smiled yet again, turning to look at his old friend. "You know it's funny you're the second person to think that in the last few days, and here I thought you were both open minded people."

Van Helsing growled dangerously, he wasn't a man who tolerated riddles or confusion.

Dracula took pity on him and settled against the wall with an expression akin to compassion and regret on his features that threw the poor hunter more than his words. "Is it so difficult for a man of god to except the possibility of ghosts, Gabriel? After all, the last time we saw each other I believe you witnessed an entire crowd of them."

Van Helsing frowned as he recalled the count's death and the family Valerius crowding behind their last Princess to help her deliver the final blow.

"That was different. They were in purgatory passing over to heaven as they deserved…you were condemned to hell, a side effect of your little pact with the devil." the hunter spat.

Dracula's face grew hard. "Yes I went to hell." he muttered quietly before his face brightened. "But you see I was a servant of God for most of my human life…and it appears there are certain loop holes in the divine justice system. As you make amends in life, I make mine in death." he turned to glance at the rising sun seeming to consider the time. "Which reminds me, I have a prier engagement."

Van Helsing watched in silent amazement as this very real figment of his imagination began to slowly fade away before thinking better of it and turning to look at him hopefully. "By the way, I don't suppose you know the date and time you are going to be hanged do you? I know some friends of yours who would find that information extremely helpful."

Sarah frowned at the dark skinned Asian boy before her, the acrid smell of burning meat reached her nose and the petrol station they stood within, seemed to shimmer behind a sheet of hot air.

Her friend Aran Phakey grinned at her, holding up a match.

"I don't think you want to light that here." she said absently.

His grin grew and he deliberately struck the match, holding up the small flame like a trophy. "Remember why I said you should come and work at the petrol station?" he asked randomly.

She watched the match fall from his hand, defying gravity as it floated towards the concrete beneath their feet.

He laughed spreading his arms wide "It's the prospect of knowing that you have 60,000 litres of flammable liquid underneath you…"

She was frozen when the match finally struck the ground and the station erupted around her, Aran crumbled to ash before her eyes and the world burned.

Smoke choked her as she staggered through the flames, feeling her skin burn and peel away. Figures appeared beside her watching her flail and burn, then from the sky, came the terriffyingly familiar screech and she looked up to see her vampire self riding the smoke like a demented moth. Hands grabbed at her from the flames tossing her from side to side…

With a strangled cry Sarah sat bolt upright. Amie gave a squeak of surprise and sat back heavily on the girl's bed, she grinned at the startled look on her friend's face as she glanced around the large Valerius bedroom in confusion.

"Bad dream?" Amie guessed running her fingers through her slightly bed tussled brunette hair.

Sarah groaned falling back down on to the pillow and pulling the blanket over her head. "How long have I been sleeping?" she asked grudgingly.

Amie got up and wondered to the window pulling open the heavy drapes and ruthlessly allowing the cold winter sunlight of Transylvania to invade the bedroom. Sarah hissed ironically as the soft light penetrated her blankets.

"Two hours." Amie announced.

"That's it? I miss an entire night in our world to get here and all I get to catch up is two hours? How is that fair?"

Amie tugged the blankets off the bed, rolling her eyes when Sarah curled up into a foetal position, hiding her face under her blond hair.

"Argh, can't you just come get me when it's time to fight?" she mumbled.

"Anna wants us all up and getting packed she's already down in the village…" her expression became troubled, a cloud of sorrow and fear descending over her bright eyes, "Can't you smell it?" she asked quietly.

"Smell what?" but then Sarah realized she could smell something, the burning meat smell that had triggered her twisted nightmare.

Smoothing back her hair from her face, she blinked up at Amie who was laying out some clothes for her at the end of the bed. She had already exchanged her modern clothes for an old pale blue peasant top with faded brown sleeves and a tattered brown skirt.

A familiar knot of fear and worry twisted her gut so that she was suddenly not remotely tired anymore. Pulling down the long nightshirt she'd shrugged into less than three hours before, she padded barefoot to the window and eased it open, shivering in the sudden blast of freezing air that rushed into the room.

"She's burning the bodies?" she guessed eyeing the large cloud of thick black smoke with mounting nausea, imagining Anna down there saying farewell to the villagers she had failed to protect.

Amie nodded standing beside her. "She doesn't want any of them the rise again at sunset and come after us, the last thing we need are more dead things."

Sarah smirked "At least it's not vampire's this time."

"Thank god."

Amie handed her a pile of clothes making the bed while she fought with the black gypsy shirt and riding trousers.

"Did you even get any sleep?" she enquired sitting on the edge of the bed to pull on the knee high riding boots Anna had thoughtfully kept, along with the clothes from their previous visit.

Amie sat on the bed with raised eyebrows. "Here? Do you not remember the last time we were here?"

Sarah grinned "I think I've blocked most of it out."

Amie rolled her eyes "Yeh that's why you were sleeping so peacefully when I came in." she said sarcastically. "Just when you think your past the whole Vampire, werewolf, mud huts and cobble stone phase. We come back and now there are new fun things that want to kill us."

Sarah shot her a patient smile using the full length mirror to tame her bed hair. "Just another day in Sunnydale." she joked to her fellow Buffy fanatic before looking at her sideways. "There not mud huts."

"They might as well be!"

"This time things will be different." Sarah assured her, picking up her hip bag from where she'd dropped it at the foot of the bed earlier that morning and hissing when the cut on her hand re-opened spreading a fresh crimson pool across her already soiled bandages.

Amie eyed the wound sadly obviously thinking that it wasn't the most encouraging way to start a mission. "I just…I don't want to lose you again…lose anyone."

A moment of silence hung between them then, a whirlwind of memories tearing painfully through their heads.

Sarah fought to keep her eyes clear and her voice even as she gave her a comforting hug. "You won't this time…we're older wiser and…"

"We don't have Van Helsing." Amie whispered.

Sarah froze at that, the twin scars on her throat began to throb weakly and the smell of burning bodies seemed to fill the room, choking any words that might have offered some comfort to her fearful friend.

Amie held her gaze for a while longer waiting for her to deny that they were vulnerable without the monster hunter, that with Anna and Carl they were just as safe. When Sarah turned to look out the window the girl smiled slightly.

"Everyone's heading downstairs now." she said getting up and making her way to the door. "Anna said she wants us packed and armed by sunset at the latest, it's noon now so we only have a few hours."

Sarah nodded and watched her leave, turning to lean on the windowsill hanging out into the chilly air in the hopes of catching an elusive lungful of fresh air to drive back the sudden lightness assaulting her head and the burning pain in her hand.

Her eyes travelled out past the deserted mass-grave that the village had become and settled on the gutted and blackened castle ruins that still sat majestic and foreboding beyond the trees less than a few hours ride from where she stood.

"Bet Derek Accorah would have a field day around here." she muttered smiling slightly at the thought of the Most Haunted team, scurrying around the ruins of castle Frankenstein. She could practically hear Yvette Fielding's hysterical screams.

But the screams she could hear in her head were not from a celebrity a world away, but her own, echoing up from the dark places of her mind.

She shivered, bracing herself on the cold stone of the windowsill from sudden dizziness. There was a ghost in that ruined castle…and it was her's. The ghost of her innocence, her childhood that had been torn away while she lay whimpering in the arms of a demon…

"Well, welcome home my love." said an arrogant voice from behind her.

The girl flinched, struck by an invisible blow concealed within those few words. "Speak of the devil." she muttered. Sighing she didn't need to turn to know the count had stretched himself out on her newly made bed, watching her with overly bright eyes, imitating a dream he had once invaded in that very spot a year ago.

"I thought you'd go away once I was back here." she muttered coldly.

Dracula scowled at that, waiting impatiently for her to turn and look at him. When it became clear that she wasn't about to pander to that particular whim, he strode up and walked up the wall at her side. She jumped as she spotted him standing upside down so casually beside her, and hurriedly wiped the tears from her eyes.

He still wore the armour of Vladislaus, loose hair and carefree expression all designed to make her feel more at ease, all failed miserably. Maybe in her world he'd seemed different, maybe she'd begun to see him as the guide he claimed to be…but here…here he was too close, too real. Here the memories were physical blades that would slowly tear her to pieces.

The count gazed casually down at the pyre in the village looking at the Princess and the Friar going about their horrific task beyond Sarah's sight.

"It's simple isn't it." he asked smiling.

Sarah leant as far away from the spectre as she could while still managing to look out of the ancient glass. "What's simple?"

Her voice was bitter but he didn't seem to notice as he twisted around and landed beside her with his armour clad feet firmly on the ground.

"The task of a lone Princess of Transylvanian." he answered with a sad smile. He gestured towards the village and the actions of the distant princess. "You see? Remove head, cut out heart, stuff mouth with holy wafer, burn and repeat. Simple."

Sarah shuddered repulsed by his disturbing commentary and the ease with which he dismissed such a terrible task. "It's not simple." she spat shaking with sudden hatred for her spectral tormentor. The count turned to look at her in almost comical surprise but she was already moving.

With a few hurried steps she snatched up her katana and hip bag and rushed out of the room, her chest burning with suppressed rage and sorrow.

"Don't you want to hear my news!" Came the frustrated yell from the abandoned spook.

Sarah clamped her hands over her ears, she didn't care what he had to say. The long hallway blurred with her tears as she hurried along it, not daring to look up for fear of seeing Dracula standing by a wall or in the places not touched by the midday sun. Her eyes were so focused on the carpet that she knew immediately she'd gone the wrong way, perhaps to the one of the worst memories of all in this place.

She froze, her foot hovering over the dark rust coloured stain in the carpet.

It was blood…her's, or her vampire blood anyway, forever bonded with werewolf Velkan's. As though she was suddenly watching a movie she saw the battle again. There was no sound as she saw the werewolf driving it's claws into her body over and over again.

Her fingers twitched as a phantom pain sliced across her abdomen, bringing new life to the three pale scars in the skin there. Pure undiluted panic seized her then, sending her whole body into a violent tremor. Her chest seemed to close in upon itself and her throat closed off, as she began to lose herself in a mindless panic attack.

Her mind screamed at her to flee from everything around her, to get far away from this house and the ghosts of the past.

Gasping she staggered back and crashed into a warm body.

When strong arms grabbed her by the shoulders she cried out and struggled, beating her fists into her attackers chest in blind panic.

Marston held on to his friend in fear and alarm "Sarah! Sarah it's me stop it!" he pleaded trying to grasp hold of her wrists to keep her from hurting herself. Her skin felt clammy to the touch, her whole body trembling violently beneath his fingers. "Sarah it's Marston! It's Marston!" he yelled in earnest. "Stop it, your ok!"

Her weak protests continued for a beat before she slumped weakly back against the wall from lack of oxygen. Supporting her on one side, Marston gently lowered her down to a sitting position relieved when her terrified eyes finally met his worried gaze.

"Your ok." he said again seeking to reassure her.

The girl blinked up at him, her breathing ragged but less shallow as she began to slowly calm down. With a small pitiful sob she leant forward and buried her head in his shoulder, still trembling when he drew her into a comforting hug.

When her breathing had evened out and her shaking had lessoned he sighed in relief. "You ok pickle?" he asked quietly.

Sarah eased out of his arms and leant back against the wall with her eyes closed, determined not to see the stain or any wayward vampires lurking beyond her friend. A slight blush warmed her cheeks as she realised what an idiot she had just made of herself in front of Marston, smiling shyly she tentatively looked up at his concerned face from beneath the curtain of hair she was trying to hide behind with little success.

"Pickle?" she asked shakily. "Now there's a sexy nickname."

Marston grinned though it didn't erase the concern in his eyes. "Hey pickles could be sexy...ish." he answered playfully. His gaze grew serious for a moment. "What happened just now? You looked like you'd seen a ghost."

Sarah didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this so she settled for leaning against the wall as she tried to stand up. "This place is full of ghosts." she answered simply avoiding the question directly and moving to walk past him.

"Any specific one this time?" he enquired.

She looked up, meeting his eyes for a moment before nodding in the direction they had just come from.

The youth looked back at the hallway, squinting until his eyes focused on the stains on the walls and the carpet. A soft hiss of realisation escaped his lips and he said no more about it, content to accompany her down the hall and the stairs towards the distant sounds coming from the floor below them and the sweet smell of lunch rising from the kitchen, though neither of them felt remotely hungry now.

"I didn't think it would be this hard…" Sarah whispered watching her hand glide along the banister with glazed eyes. "This place…"

Marston looked at her with pity placing a comforting arm around her shoulders. "You died here, not in this house but lots of other stuff happened here…we're all a little bit freaked to be here but it's bound to hit you the hardest."

She smiled gratefully up at him, relieved that he understood. He smiled back "Whatever big badass we're up against this time he's not Dracula, Dracula's dead he can't hurt you anymore."

He blinked in surprise when Sarah's face clouded once more and she shrugged his arm off, her fingers tugging at the bloodied bandage on her hand.

'What did I say' he wondered worriedly.

Marston watched his friend out of the corner of his eye, seeing the concentration on her face as she fought to push her feelings deep down and pull on a mask of carefree contentment that was all too familiar.

They paused in the passageway that led towards the kitchen, and he waited patiently as Sarah took two deep shaky breaths to banish the lingering tightness in her chest.

"Do you want me to tell them what happened?" he asked tentatively.

She shook her head. "No, it was nothing I just freaked out slightly, I'll be fine once I get out of here."

She smiled at his sceptical frown. "Honestly thanks but I'm ok now."

She turned to walk into the kitchen but he reached out and stopped her forcing her to meet his eyes. "If you need to talk…well…we'll all understand, if you need to tell us anything."

Sarah swallowed the sudden lump in her throat.

"Don't block us out." he begged.

She forced herself to smile again and nod, he didn't know that their were something's none of them could understand. If they knew Dracula was still around…that he was talking to her…

Looking at Marston then, and beyond him to where the others were gathered in the kitchen talking and laughing dressed in their period clothes, she wished so badly that she could tell them.

"I won't." she promised giving him a quick hug and walking into the kitchen. Unconvinced he followed.

The others looked up grinning when they entered, Jory waved as he shovelled homemade bread and chicken into his mouth.

"What time do you call this?" Bob asked sarcastically.

Sarah made a show of glancing at her watch. "12:35am in our world so technically I should still be asleep." she settled at the table placing her samurai katana in front of her, smiling when the polished redwood of the sheath caught the light.

Beyond the table she noticed the small Moses basket that had been set near the warm hearth and the sleeping baby Prince inside it. "Babysitting?" she asked Tony who was sitting closest.

He grinned "Making sure you don't revert to your witchy ways and eat him."

"The way she always does." Amie said sarcastically rolling her eyes.

"Have you noticed how tidy and normal everything is in this house?" Marston asked frowning and helping himself to a pile of bread and ham.

Tony frowned "How do you mean? Because it's just survived a zombie attack last night and the rest of the village is in ruins?"

Marston nodded spitting crumbs when he answered. "Yeh! I mean…" he swallowed loudly ignoring Amie's reproachful look. "Do zombies loot?"

"Are we talking treasures or people?" Sarah asked sipping at a small glass of milk and avoiding the solid food.

"Judging from the traditional movies I'd say their more people and organ orientated." Jory supplied helpfully.

Amie frowned "Yeh but wouldn't they have torn this place apart looking for people?"

Tony laughed "Me personally, if I was this…what did you call him?" he asked Sarah.

"Necromancer."

"Yeh If I was that guy I'd use my own personal zombie army to pillage and loot and throw down the government."

"Your basic take over the world scenario." Bob agreed. "Isn't that what this guy is trying to do?"

Jory blinked "I just thought he was randomly letting lose with the wrath of the dead or something, does there have to always be a plan behind it?"

"Bet you he's a vegetarian." Marston said randomly. Every turned to stare at him and he grinned sheepishly.

"So…he's evil and that immediately makes you think…Vegetarian?" Amie asked smirking.

Marston nodded "Yup, its like this bill bailey thing I saw, he was talking about Hitler being a vegetarian he said 'see that's a downside to vegetarianism, in some extreme cases could lead to genocide" They all laughed, Sarah shooting Marston a grateful smile for the much needed comic relief.

"So what happened in Van Helsing 2?" Amie asked curiously settling into a seat beside her.

Sarah gave her a blank look. "Van Helsing 2?"

"Yeh the film we're in now…this is the sequel right?"

"Last time we were here that wasn't a film that was real life."

"But it followed the film so you knew what was going to happen." Amie prompted.

"Sort of…"

"So what's going to happen this time?"

Sarah smiled ruefully "That's the fun part…I have no idea."

Right on queue the distant sound of the main doors opening and shutting echoed along the passage accompanied by the hurried footsteps of the Friar and the more commanding stride of the Princess as they made their way towards the kitchen.

Anna didn't say a word as she entered the room, she merely nodded a greeting, looked in on her son and then crossed to the sink furiously scrubbing her hands, turning the water red as it washed dead blood from her fingers.

"Sleep well?" Carl enquired looking around at the now quiet group.

"Indeed." Marston muttered taking another hurried bite of his lunch.

"Good, good." the friar mumbled walking around to Sarah's side of the table. "Er…you have considerable knowledge on the Vatican and their…our weaponry?" he enquired.

Sarah blinked quizzically. "Sort of…why?"

Carl brought out a blood stained bag and dropped on the table in front of her tipping it upside down and sending its contents cascading across it's surface.

"Hey! I was eating that!" Bob yelled indignantly as mud and filth splattered over his plate of food.

"Oh god that stinks." Amie spluttered putting her hands over her mouth and nose to block out the stench of rotting flesh that still clung to some of the metallic objects.

Several silver tubes settled in front of the girl, identical to the blow gun Van Helsing used to deliver poisoned or drug loaded darts to his prey. Sarah reached out and plucked a small metallic object from the table top beside them, ignoring the way her fingers slid and stuck to the viscous material that soaked it.

"These are…Van Helsing uses these." she said in confusion. She turned the dart around so she could see clearly where the red feathers had originally been set but had been removed in an attempt to hide the familiar look of the object.

"That's what hit Anna yesterday." Jory said looking curiously over her shoulder.

"There from the Vatican." Anna stated not turning from the sink.

"What do you mean?" asked Bob worriedly. "The Vatican attacked you?"

Anna shook her head. "No, the dead were carrying them. All of the old dead in the village that we found had these on them and some were empty."

"Why would they want empty darts?" Tony wondered allowed picking one up and examining it for himself.

"It's simply impossible." Carl muttered. "No one has access to Vatican weaponry but our field agents, to accumulate this much arsenal would mean to get it from more agents than even exist out there."

Amie frowned "So someone's killing off agents and stealing blow guns…is anyone else lost?"

"Their not killing off agents." Sarah whispered looking hard at the Friar. "You think someone in the Vatican is supplying the Necromancer with this stuff."

"Bloody brilliant." Tony muttered in disgust.

Anna slammed her hands down on the table making them all jump. "We don't have time to speculate!" she yelled in annoyance, waking baby Velkan up who immediately began wailing in the corner. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath her voice calmer when she spoke again.

"The sunsets in less than an hour and a half. I'm not going to stay here and face an army I can't defeat, I didn't risk everything to bring you all back here to let you die for nothing."

Bob frowned, "So what do you want us to do?" he asked patiently.

Anna looked at him. "We need to find Van Helsing, without him we don't have a prayer against these creatures and their master."

"It's a pretty big world out there." Jory muttered.

The Princess nodded "Which is why we need to head for the place he was last seen and where we can get answers."

Sarah grinned "I always wanted to go to Rome."

The group fell silent, Carl barely able to keep still at the thought of heading back to his home for the first time in months.

Amie's mouth fell open. "Rome…as in Italy? How the hell are we going to get there? We can't exactly jump on the next flight out."

Anna smiled at her and her eyebrows disappeared beneath her fringe in horror. "We're walking to Rome! Your crazy! It's too far!"

Anna smiled walking over to the basket and picking out her baby rocking him soothingly in her arms "Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time." She said simply. "But since we don't have the time, we'll be riding."

Note: Wow that one was long! Read and review as always!


	15. Escape

Ledae Aria: lol yep he really does call me pickle, or Sarah-Lou …or both depending on the mood! Anna's not menopausy she's just stressed lol you know sudden single mother, zombies think id freak a little too. 

Fortune Zyne: Thanx for the review! Yeh Sarah did have a rough time this ones sort of helping her face the stuff she's just pushed down and not dealt with. Facing her demons in the literal sense.

JeanieBeanie: Marston loves that he has a fan!

Lucy Wanabe: Yeh does kinda make you want a panic attack just for the caring Marston-ness that comes with doesn't it :D

Christine Marquez: get your dancing shoes on it's an update! (my comp didn't die on me!)

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 15

Sarah eyed the large bags wearily, with less than twenty minutes before the sun set and the dead rose they'd managed to cram blankets, food and water into ten saddle bags. Now they'd moved on to the weapons.

The armoury around her was alive with tension and activity as the teens went from one display to the other, feeling the weight of the swords and the triggers on the guns. Several of the ancient suits of armour standing guard had become the focus of this testing, finding themselves dented and riddled with bullet holes as one after the other stakes, shotguns, swords and other weapons began to fill the bags.

Tony held up a long metal tube attached by a pipe to two tanks of what looked to be crude oil, he flicked a switch and a small flame ignited at the opening at the end of the tube.

Marston laughed "You made a flamethrower!" he exclaimed raising an eyebrow at the Friar.

Carl nodded "I thought it would come in handy, yes."

"Your like Q!" Jory exclaimed in awe.

Bob laughed jumping when the sharp end of a silver stake erupted suddenly from the end of the stick he'd just picked up.

Marston chuckled "Yes, any minute now Knick nack will come charging round the corner with his trusty harpoon!"

The Friar and his friend's stared at him blankly, all except Bob who had doubled over laughing.

"A crooked, tangy crisp's gonna come with a harpoon?" Amie asked raising her eyebrows in amused confusion.

Marston grinned. "Nah! Knick nack was this crazy midget in Golden eye who attacks James Bond with a harpoon!"

Amie blinked "Of course he does." she muttered rolling her eyes.

Sarah laughed and looked over Tony's shoulder eyeing the tanks and his precarious hold of the weapon with concern.

He looked back and smiled at her "Remember that lone shark I pissed off and he said he was coming after me?" he asked sighting along the barrel at one of the suits of armour standing to attention across the room.

Sarah's brow creased with sudden concern. "Yeah…"

"Well its ok cuz he's been arrested for Arson." He grinned at her dumbfounded look.

"It's ok, it wasn't my house." he said cheerfully shouldering the flamethrower and casually loading it into one of the weapons bags.

Anna walked into the room dropping another saddle bag on the table. "Carl can you put some of the shotguns in these."

Amie looked doubtfully at all the bags. "Are we really going to need all of these? We're only going to Rome."

Anna looked at her seriously "It's not where we're going that bothers me, it's what might follow us there."

"You think the Zombies will follow?" Bob asked fearfully.

Carl nodded "For whatever reason they seem to have orders to, at least, capture Anna alive."

"So we take enough weapons to equip a small army." Marston muttered strapping on a large belt covered with shotgun cartridges, he took up a pose before the window grinning at his reflection. "I'm ok with that."

Sarah laughed "Great so the guys can play Rambo on the way."

She reached up to one particular display holding several crossbows almost identical to the one Van Helsing was fond of, apparently Carl had been working on making it a little lighter and more user friendly.

"I really, really want a crossbow this time." she announced grinning as Marston helped her pull one of the larger prototypes down.

Tony snorted "And you moan at Marston an bob for liking guns!" he exclaimed smirking.

She laughed jumping down and sighting along the loaded bolt. "Crossbows are different, their the noble medieval-weapon…anyone can use a gun." she let the bolt go grinning in satisfaction as it thudded directly through the chest plate of armour on the far side of the large room, a shot she would never have made without her superior sight.

Marston still cast her concerned glances, but she assured him she was over her little panic attack and was cheered to find that she wasn't entirely lying. The thought of leaving the manor had dispelled some of the lingering memories, giving her something else to focus on and the fact that there hadn't been so much as a chill breeze from her ghostly stalker, lifted some of the darkness from her shoulders.

Even while the happy banter continued every one of the teens and their hosts caught themselves glancing anxiously at the sky, wincing as it become a fiery orange and then steadily darkened to a deep red.

Finally Anna called Sarah and Amie to help her prepare the horses.

The girls walked cautiously out of the large front doors crossing the shadowy court yard towards the stables.  
Amie and Sarah linked arms as they walked, the blonde reaching back to feel the ever present katana strapped to her back and drawing the blade in one swift stroke to cover them. Anna led the way, her own sword shining blood red in the evening light, the crow on the blade seeming to shift in anticipation. As they entered the stable they all shuddered trying to dispel the feeling of many gazes boring into their backs.

The woodland around the manor usually teamed with life in the absence of a werewolf.

Life had flourished in the dense forest since the day Velkan managed to destroy the last rampaging werewolf, sadly becoming one himself. At the moment of his death the werewolf population in the Transylvanian forests became none existent. Without this predator life had returned, until the last few days when it had all but disappeared.

Silence rang in the clearings. No birds sang, no small creatures scampered across the snow.

Now, as the dark figure crouched in the shadows of the trees watching the large manor, he was glad that his small movements would not disturb any birds alerting the princess to his presence.

He crept forward, his limp prominent even as he slivered through the leaf litter, his distorted neck twitched as he turned his whole body to peer awkwardly through the branches. Igor chuckled when the smell of burning flesh reached him from the village, he regretted that he couldn't take a closer look at the carnage of those that had contributed to his hideous appearance.

He cackled quietly as he remembered the wonderful night he'd had when the zombies attacked. So many of the villagers had escaped only to fall into his traps deep within the forest. He'd spent most of the night amusing himself with these poor souls until the sun rose and the dead dug themselves into the soft earth around the village to wait until sunset released them to complete their task. The poor villages that were the source of his pleasure had joined their ranks shortly after, and he had returned to serving his new master.

He heard the horse approach and the rustle of a cloak as the rider dismounted, but his gaze never left the manor.

The Necromancer made no sound as he walked up to his servant and paused within the evening shadows to peer down at the house of the legendary Valerius family.

"Well beast." he hissed giving the crouching man a swift blow with his staff.

Igor flinched muttering obscenities and turned to greet his master with the twisted grimace he believed to be a dazzling smile, his teeth were revealed, black and rotten after a lifetime of neglect. The necromancer wrinkled his nose in disgust, never had he met a living creature whose outward appearance was as dark and twisted as the soul that resided within it.

"The Anna has returned." he reported smoothly using a blood stained hand to sweep back the greasy lock of hair that tickled his pig like nose.

"Was she accompanied by anyone?"

Igor shifted nervously. "I'm not sure…I was busy at the time."

The Necromancer's hooded face turned to regard him and unpleasant chuckle escaping the dark folds that concealed his face. "Ah yes…those poor souls. They surround you beast…they want revenge, I will use that passion as I use their bodies…you have done well."

Igor shivered as the air around him grew frigid at his Masters words, he resisted the urge to glance around for a glimpse of the ghosts that haunted him instead focusing on the large oak doors of the manor.

"We must find out who Anna's allies are."

The Necromancer grew still, his breathing shallow and laboured.

Igor flinched as a sharp icy wind surrounded them and Dracula materialised, leaning somewhat tensely against a dead oak on his left.

In the shadows he appeared as an androgynous youth, his long hair framing his face as he still bore the armour of the knight he had once been.

The count's eyes flashed with fury as he beheld the Necromancer, but he said nothing choosing, instead, to watch with Igor as the doors of the Manor finally opened and Anna led Sarah and Amie to the stables.

The leaves rustled damply under the Necromancers heavy cloak as he stepped up beside them eying the three girls with hunger.

"Tell me Vladislaus…is that your wayward bride accompanying the Princess?" he asked pleasantly.

Dracula's face twisted in a pained snarl and he twitched as he tested the bonds that held him to the vile creature at his side.

The Necromancer scowled when the spectre failed to reply and applied his will behind the question. The Irony of the situation was not lost on the count as he was forced to grunt his answer.

"It is." he spat, growling at the indignity of it all, the great count Dracula reduced to a mindless slave.

Igor cackled at his reply. "It's the troublesome witch and her friends, I remember them, Igor has a score to settle with them." he muttered excitedly.

"Excellent. You have done well Vladislaus, does she trust you?"

Dracula sneered. "Do you?" he enquired, his dark gaze shifting to his hooded enslaver, the malice and fury clear in the growing dusk.

The Necromancer smiled at the veiled threat turning to walk back to his patient horse, he mounted and glanced down once more where the girls were leading a team of eight black horses back towards the manor.

"It is not an issue of trust my dear count." He muttered. "It's about Power and control…I control you and through you I control her, she will lead the princess to me and then we will see who has the power."

Dracula snarled, phantom fangs appearing between his lips. The Necromancer ignored him turning to the eager creature at his feet. "Igor I would like you to keep an eye on Van Helsing."

The distorted figure bowed low as his master turned his stead around and disappeared into the trees.

The sun seemed to follow him, casting the forest into darkness at his back. A deep groan sounded through the trees and the earth shifted as the dead clawed their way to the surface.

Anna glanced back to the trees and watched as the last ray of sunlight disappeared.

"We have to go now!" she yelled as the darkness of night raced over the tree tops towards them.

Amie cried out as the horses began to snort and pull nervously, their eyes rolling as the loud groan of earth giving way echoed around the silent woodland. The girl clung to the reins of the four horses she led as they trotted behind her towards the open doors of the foyer.

"We're taking the horses inside the manor?" Sarah called in confusion as the Princess swung her legs over the side of the nearest stallion reining him in and galloping past her towards the open doors.

The two girls watched in amazement as she disappeared into the manor, her other three horses trailing behind her. Amie gritted her teeth and followed, cringing as dirty hooves marred the shinning tiled floor when she entered.

Sarah felt three of her horses yank their reins out of her hands, whinnying loudly as they followed their fellows to safety. But the last, a young mare dug her hooves into the snow, refusing to move.

Sarah desperately pulled on the reins calling for help as the terrified beast reared, kicking madly at the air. The girl swore as she hung from the reins forcing the beast back to earth.

"Damn it! You stupid thing! Come on!"

She froze as her eyes penetrated the night at the back of the panicked creature and she beheld the dead rushing towards her from the woods and the village, a sudden wind whipped up and she caught a flash of metal as the Undertaker strode proudly at the head of the undead mob, his scythe held high crying out for her blood.

The horse was the least of her worries now as she pulled frantically on it's bridle. "Come on!" she grunted her feet slipping on the slush that coated the stone beneath her feet.

One hoof at a time the beast began to respond, moving agonisingly slowly towards the candle lit interior of the manor.

Tony and Bob appeared at her sides slapping the horse's rump, trying to get it to move faster.

Finally they managed to pass through the large oak doors, Sarah immediately let go of the mare and rushed to help Marston and Jory close and bolt the entrance. When the last bolt was in place a terrifying thud sounded from the other side announcing the arrival of the dead.

"How long do you think it'll take them to get through?" Jory asked breathlessly as they ran through the manor, the horse now happy to co-operate.

"I'd rather not think about it!" Sarah panted touching the green pentagram at her throat for reassurance.

The four teens rushed on, hearing the distant hammering and the loud crash of broken glass somewhere above them.

Sarah fought the urge to look behind her as they past the main staircase and heard the thud of many awkward feet descending hurriedly. Her sword once again fell easily into her palm, the metal singing through the suddenly chill air as they ran on.

Tony grabbed her sleeve and yanked her into the next corridor stumbling slightly on the muddy footprints left by the horses that had past ahead of them.

"The Library! We gotta get to the library move it!" Bob bellowed frantically just behind her.

A sudden rush of air hit them from the side and Sarah lost her balance falling painfully a tumbling dangerously close to the still frantic mare's hooves. She curled up gasping as she received a glancing kick to her upper arm.

Jory pushed the beast to the side to avoid her unable to slow it's desperate run. As they sailed past and continued on to the Library door at the end of the corridor he glanced back to see her stumble to her feet.

Marston glanced into the room on their left spotting the single zombie forcing it's way through the broken glass of the large window. Thinking fast he darted in and grabbed a torch from the fire place, relieved that the fire was still going.

The moment the shrivelled skin of the dead creature came in contact with the flame it became an inferno, skeletal arms thrashed wildly as the boy gave it a swift kick and sent it tumbling down to it's fellows below.

When he slammed the door shut and re-entered the hallway he was pleased to see Tony, Sarah and Bob disappearing into the library. His relief was short lived as he heard a deep cackle echo along the corridor.

He spun to see the undertaker stalking towards him, a solid wall of death following behind and the thud's of more zombies entering the manor through broken windows on the floors above his head.

Within seconds he tumbled through the doors to the library, startling the horses as he tripped over a stool landing in a panicked heap. "Shut the doors!"

Amie screamed as she saw the undertaker approach seeing the furious look on his rotten features as yet another door was slammed and bolted in his face.

Sarah tried to drown out the sound of splintering wood as she helped to saddle the horses, her sweat soaked fingers slipped on the cold leather and bit as she pushed the riding bridle over the single stallions head and placed the bit between his unwilling jaws.

Amie and Bob ran from horse to horse attaching the heavy saddlebags. "How long before they get through the doors?" Bob glancing nervously at the bookcases and tables piled against the bolted ancient doors.

"Not long enough!" Anna worried adding another chair to the precarious pile. "But it should slow them down at least until were safely away."

Carl paced before the large Transylvanian map, baby Velkan was nestled snugly in his arms oblivious to the desperate situation around him. "I wish I had your courage." he muttered glancing down fondly on the dark haired child.

When the last horse was saddled and loaded Anna hurried forward to take the baby bouncing him nervously as Carl brushed away cobwebs from the Latin inscription on the map and began to read aloud.

The teens held tightly to the bridles of their horses holding their breath as a sickening crunch sounded from the doors and they began to buckle in on themselves.

Sarah trembled leaning on the side of her mounts warm body, she glanced around her watching as Amie and Bob clung to each other and her friend's drew their horses together encasing themselves within a living barrier.

They were gambling with their lives.

The map was a holy gateway, but no where had it said that a being of evil couldn't pass through behind them.

Sarah shook her head as a vivid image of them being slaughtered in the dark tome of the ancient Valerius entered her mind. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dracula step up beside her, his face a mask of concern and anger. He tried to catch her eye but she turned away, burying her head in the dark pungent mane of her horse.

As Carl reached the essential last line of the inscription her voice chanted the words along with his adding her strength to the words as only a trained Wiccan could.

"Deum lacessat ac inaum imbeat aperiri!"

Anna strode forwards "In the name of God open this door!" she demanded.

The undertaker drove his scythe into the splintered doors over and over again, howling with triumph when a large crack appeared and he spied his prey on the other side. His grotesque grin faded and his jaw dropped as his dead eyes watched them disappear, horses and all, through the huge mirror on the other side of the room.

"No! I have you!" he screeched, entering into a frenzy pulling the splintering wood apart with his bare hands.

The doors finally fell before him, exploding inwards in a showers of splinters and furniture as he launched himself through the temporary barricade. The scythe glinted evilly in the firelight as he raised it above his head and sped towards the mirror.

With a loud crash and inhuman cry, he slammed into the newly materialised map shattering the fragile bones of his nose and ripping his shoulder out at the socket on impact. Behind him the undead army began to back away sensing easier prey in the forests, their soulless bodies unable to fathom their leaders injured disgust.

The Undertaker stood unsteadily, eyeing his useless arm with contempt. He glanced up as a figure materialised in front of him and Vladilaus Dracula sneered at his former servant.

Note: Next chapter should be up hopefully by Monday! Keep reading and reviewing!


	16. Riding lessons

JeanieBeanie: Thanx for the review!

Christine Marquez: Sorry didn't manage for Monday but Tuesday's just as good right?

Lucy Wanabe: thanx! Lol after I wrote that I had a really scary dream of me and my friends running through Anna's house being chased by something lol it's the last time I cram in a chapter before midnight!

Fortune Zyne: Promise it'll all be explained!

Marston: lol you know what I said about that completely random review! Talk soon!

Ledae Aria: Again what's with you and the wanting to decapitate Igor?

Note: Just a reminder that this is rated PG 13 for language etc so no big shocks with the swearing, their teenagers how many teenages do you know who don't swear ever?

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 16

Carl was the last through the mirror and he glanced back in fear upon hearing the impact behind him.

Too everyone's relief the wall denied the dead access and for a moment they allowed themselves to slide to the floor in exhaustion, feeling the adrenaline slowly dissipate leaving them all hollow and exhausted.

The horses huddled together against the wall trembling violently. In order to get them to move through the mirror they'd had to be blind folded, each one had a large piece of material tucked under the bridle acting as complete blinkers to calm them. Even so they'd bucked and tossed their heads in alarm when they felt the chill of the mirror around them and then the eerie silence of the passage beyond.

It was only when Anna finally lit the first of the passage torches that Jory burst into fits of hysterical laughter.

"He hit the mirror!" he roared gasping with breathless giggles. "What a mong!"

Marston grinned "Yeh too bad that's not a two way mirror we could have seen the impact, his limbs out like a demented loony toon."

Amie frowned "I actually find that idea more disturbing than the reality, all I can see now is that weird wolf thing smushed up."

Sarah grinned "Wily Coyote…just a thought, what is a coyote?"

"A wild dog." Tony supplied breathlessly, he grinned brightly "We just faced down an army, and we got away."

Sarah frowned "Yeh we wouldn't have had to run if that stupid horse had come in when I told it!" she jumped when the horse in question snorted and turned to give it a dark look.

Tony laughed "Wasn't the horse that fell arse over tit though was it? Trust you to do the helpless damsel in distress bit." he teased as she glared at him.

Jory's brow creased in concern. "That was fucking scary! I thought the horse was gonna kill you!"

Reminded of that, sudden pain rushed down her arm and she looked down at it in surprise, realising that she couldn't physically move it.

"Think one of the hooves got my arm." she winced as Amie helped her push up the sleeve to reveal a large black bruise surrounded by angry red skin.

Amie smiled "You and horses."

Sarah grinned back sheepishly. Amie was recalling the one summer Sarah had been staying on her aunties farm in Wales and a horse had bitten her on her left breast, tearing some of the skin off. She still had the scars but it was a running joke within her family that, had the horse waited a few years, their would have been a lot more for it to grab hold of.

While Carl examined her arm Sarah laughed eagerly with her friend's, all of them still buzzing with excitement.

"So I set the mutha fuc'a on fire!" Marston yelled acting out his story animatedly and startling the slowly calming horses.

"Your lucky your arm wasn't broken!" Carl scolded her finally. "It's bruised the bone, You'll be able to move it again by tomorrow."

Bob snorted "We've not even been here a day and you're a walking disaster!" he exclaimed.

Sarah grinned "Yeh but not dead yet."

"Which is a definite improvement." Jory grinned.

"Which you will keep up if we have to baby sit you 24/7." Marston chimed in.

Sarah scowled "What you think if I'm left alone some monster thing will try to kill me?"

"Yes!" her friend's said in unison making her jump.

She sighed wearily "Think I'm in more danger from you lot." she muttered sulkily.

Anna leant against the wall, watching her young friends with amazement. Listening to them in the warm cave, with the light from the torches she could almost believe none of it had happened, that her family home hadn't been invaded by the vile dead.

She retrieved her son from the small basket built into her saddle on her stallion and cradled him in her arms, content just to bask in the banter of her young companions. After months of just Carl's company it was wonderful just to listen to mindless conversation.

Carl shifted nervously glancing back at the barrier as if he expected the necromancer himself to walk through and attack them. "Er…as riveting as this conversation is, might I suggest we make our way further in."

Tony groaned and climbed stiffly to his feet "Fine, instead of sitting in the nice dark cave we can go sit in the nice dark Tomb with the dead guy."

Bob grinned helping Amie to her feet "And the spider's." Amie cringed hugging her arms to her chest at the thought.

Anna slowly led the group forwards, lighting each wall mounted torch as she passed it, following the winding passage towards the open chamber that held the Tomb and relicts of her ancestor, Valerius the Elder.

Tony and Marston lingered like hired body guards while Sarah got to her feet. She bristled irritated at their actions, she wasn't a fan of the whole poor damsel in distress scene. She stared them down looking pointedly from one to the other.

"You guys go ahead, I'm right behind you." she said forcefully.

Tony eyed her doubtfully. "That's ok we can hang back with you…"

"I'm fine, there's no more zombies and, last I checked no more vampires, this tunnels a one way system so I'll be right behind you."

She had to admit she enjoyed the attention but she just didn't do helpless…not when she had the choice anyway, besides there was someone she had to talk too.

"We don't mind." Marston persisted.

She rubbed her head in agitation. "Do you see the crap on my clothes?"

The boys took in her appearance noticing the mud splattered gypsy top in the candle light. "Well the top's cold, smelly and damp…think I can change it without an audience?"

"We'll be right ahead if you need us." Marston said hurriedly.

With troubled expressions, Marston and Tony took hold of two of the remaining three horses and started up the passage glancing back until they cleared the corner and disappeared from view.

Sarah sighed in relief and made her way over to the last horse who, coincidently, happened to be the mare that had given her so much trouble to begin with.

"You behave yourself." she muttered good naturedly.

When the distant sounds of the other horses had faded completely she quietly ran to the corner and peered around it, making sure none of her friend's had decided to double back. Certain that she was finally alone she turned and faced the darkest shadows in the tunnel, at the place where the closed mirror met the chamber.

"I know your there." she called.

The air in the tunnel seemed to drop a few degree's following her words but nothing else occurred, the horse stared at her suspiciously it's ears pricked and twitching.

The girl frowned, walking back to press a comforting hand to the animal's side, though her eyes never left the deeper shadows.

Glaring at the darkness she bristled with annoyance and called out to the spectre that she could feel lurking just out of sight. "Dracula? Vladislaus…I'm…I'm ready to listen now."

The horse's ears flattened against her skull and her eyes rolled as a dry chuckle echoed around girl and horse. Sarah shuddered, unconsciously drawing closer to the animal as the familiar voice accompanied it.

"Are you now? Perhaps I'm not inclined to talk?" he teased, his voice tinged with dry amusement and a little annoyance. No doubt bitter about being ignored for the better part of the day.

As his body melted out of the shadows, Sarah avoided looking into his haunting eyes. Nausea gripped her stomach as she was confronted, not with the brave knight Vladislaus, but with the full aristocratic glory that had been Count Dracula.

His shiny black boots made no sound on the Earth as he glided gracefully towards her, his long coat billowed around his hips, brushed by an unnatural breeze that tugged eagerly at the few strands of hair that escaped his clipped ponytail. Sarah's breath stilled in her throat with sudden panic, and she fought to remain calm as the vision of her nightmare's paused terrifyingly real in the darkness, mere feet away.

He stared at her sternly, as one would chastising a child that has been foolishly ignorant in the presence of it's betters. A transparent hand cupped the air under her chin making the air below unbearably cold so she was forced to tilt her head up as if his fingers had forced it there.

The moment her eyes met his, a sharp pain raced through the twin scars in her neck bringing tears to her eyes. A moment of concern flashed over the count's expression and his eyes softened with regret, yet he kept up his menacing appearance.

"Why are you willing to listen now? How can I be so sure you won't run from one who only wishes to guide you?" he hissed.

The horse's body trembled violently, a cold sweat breaking out over the poor animals skin. Sarah's own trembling fingers brushed it's neck and she realised the panic the creature had felt, being retched from it's stable into a world where the dead clawed at it's flesh and the walls vanished into darkness around it.

She'd been just like that horse when she fled Dracula earlier that day.

Little more than a panicked child when more lives than her own were at stake.

She trembled in his presence now, fearful that he might somehow decide to withdraw his help and the things he knew that were beyond her. Figment of her slowly unravelling mind or not, she needed him, Van Helsing's life might depend on him.

His visage seemed to grow as he waited for her response, the darkness seemed to gather around them in a strange shadow of the wings he'd possessed in life.

"Stop it…please." Sarah whispered looking away and trying not to burst into terrified sobs. She clung to the horse as the tunnel became lighter and warmer, the flame in the wall seeming to grow with renewed life.

When she dared to glance back the sight of polished armour nearly made her sag in weak relief, and Vladislaus knight of the holy order stood before her once more, his face an expression of mild anger yet deep regret.

"I was frightened." Sarah said, her voice strong once more. "Seeing you, being in the manor with you …it was different than in my world…it was too real."

Dracula walked towards her, his arm out as though to pull her to him but he remembered himself in time, dropping the useless arm to his side. "Perhaps I was a bit too hasty to assume you had come to accept me." an ironic smile stretched his handsome mouth. "I'll admit walking up the wall was probably pushing it."

Sarah returned his smile somewhat shakily. "You…you were trying to tell me something…you said you had news." she prompted, conscious that one or more of her friend's would come looking for her fairly soon. Part of her screamed for a warm friendly face to appear around the corner.

Dracula's face hardened "I paid a visit to our mutual friend yesterday morning." he announced.

Sarah blinked in confusion before it dawned on her who he was talking about. "You saw Van Helsing!" she exclaimed in shock, all fear forgotten in the face of such news, replaced by a mental kick that left her ego bruised and battered with guilt and shame.

Dracula grinned devilishly. "I did indeed."

"How is he? Where is he? Is he hurt?" she demanded desperately.

"He's rotting in a cell awaiting his execution." Dracula delivered smoothly. "He's due to be hanged for his "Crimes against civilisation" twenty days from now."

"I can't believe their going to hang him! They can't!" Sarah exclaimed in horror. "Where is he?"

Dracula made a show of sighing dramatically and shaking his head. "I'm afraid that's something you'll have to figure out for yourself." he muttered.

Sarah was about to question him further when the sound of heavy footsteps and dull chatter sounded just beyond the bend. She glanced quickly in that direction and when she looked back Dracula had vanished.

Cursing she took hold of the mare's reins and led the relieved animal towards the sounds. Amie and Bob met her at the corner looking concerned.

"Thought you'd got lost." Bob said in greeting as she appeared before them.

Sarah rolled her eyes "It's a one tunnel cave Bob." she muttered pointedly.

Bob grinned "Well you are blond." he said cheekily.

Sarah grinned at him "And armed." she countered, drawing his attention to the sword still strapped to her back.

Amie rolled her eyes, pushing her boyfriend back down the tunnel. "Go tell them we've found her." she instructed grinning as he kissed her briefly and looked back at Sarah.

"Carl's buried himself in the Tomb library thing again and you'll be happy to hear we're having a beach barbeque." he informed her.

Sarah's stomach grumbled appreciatively as he took the reins of her mare and disappeared back down the tunnel, heading for the main chamber and the beach beyond.

Amie held out a piece of material smiling when Sarah held it up discovering it to be a long sleeved blue blouse.

"I thought you knew Anna's saddle bags were the one's with the clothes in." she scolded as Sarah shrugged out of her soiled gypsy top and replaced it awkwardly over her bruised, and still paralysed, arm. The new top that smelled strongly of horse.

Sarah glanced back at the empty tunnel. "Yeh, I forgot." she muttered.

Together the two girl's wandered through the cave to join their friends on the snow covered beach, huddled together in the mouth of the cave opening with the heat of the large fire for warmth and the smaller for cooking.

"We're already at least two full days ride from Vaseria." Anna said, breast feeding baby Velkan beneath the thick blanket that was her protection from the wind.

Tony scowled at that "I still say that's not possible." he exclaimed "How can you just step from one side of a country to the other?"

"The same way a painting turns into a mirror that you can walk through." Jory suggested smirking.

Marston chuckled "And the same way the dead are able to get up out of the ground and attack us." he added.

Tony growled in frustration turning his attention to Sarah who just said. "Something's your just not meant to understand."

Bob laughed "Cuz if you ever do your head will probably explode." They all shared a pleasant meal of partly burnt sausages and bread, looking out to where the waxing moon hovered low over the Adriatic sea.

Sarah sat cradling baby Velkan in her arms, content to watch him sleep and marvel at how tiny and perfect he was.

Tony watched her cooing over the little boy with amusement. "You know your not allowed to eat him right?" he teased.

Marston laughed "Who ever thought of the "Witches eat babies" thing? It's propaganda genius! It's like those "Nazis eat babies" posters."

"Love that I'm now in the same category as the Nazis." Sarah muttered smiling at Amie who was rolling her eyes.

Marston laughed "Your not a Nazis, we all know that secretly you're a Columbian drug lord."

It was barely ten minutes later that Anna had them all repacking the food into the saddlebags and leading to horses out into the night air.

"We have to make it through the forest to the next village before the dead pick up our trail." The Princess explained tightening the straps on her stallion's saddle.

"How long's that gonna take us?" Jory asked eyeing his horse apprehensively, not relishing the idea of getting bruised for hours in the saddle.

"If we travel through the night?" Anna considered this for a moment before climbing gracefully into the saddle. "We should make it by tomorrow evening."

She leant down and took Velkan from Sarah's arms, placing him in the small mosses basket strapped to the front of her saddle, just big enough for his little body. She covered him with blankets before strapping him in, satisfied that he was secure she spurred her horse forwards into a brisk trot.

Sarah turned and her mouth dropped to see Carl shoot past on his own black horse in quick pursuit. Followed by Tony, and Jory who looked like they had been riding all their lives, racing along the sand with shouts of laughter and encouragement to their mounts.

When Amie dropped the reins to her own horse into Sarah's hands and climbed into the saddle she glanced down at her friends stricken expression.

"Aren't you coming?"

Sarah blush patting her mare's neck sheepishly, "Er…this isn't a good time to tell you I don't know how…is it?"

"What? Of course you do!" Amie cried leaping down from her saddle.

Bob walked his horse up to them scowling at the blond girl. "Don't be stupid we all learnt with Van Helsing…" he trailed off in comprehension.

Sarah glared at him "Was that when I was dead or when I was in a coma?" she snapped.

Marston brought his own mount close a broad grin on his face. "Looks like you'll have to have the crash course then." With one swift move he'd grabbed her round the waist and to her shock had her chest level with the saddle.

"Foot in the stirrup!" he ordered, grinning as she quickly obeyed. "Swig your other leg over…good. Comfy?"

"No. She's gonna run, or throw me I know she is."

Marston laughed. "Relax." he said soothingly. He clambered onto his own horse a young black colt with white freckles on it's nose. Sarah watched enviously as he set his horse at a gallop down the beach to catch up with the now distant figures of the rest of the group.

She cried out as her horse skittered to the side suddenly, when a blur past close and Bob gave a "Yeha!" as he made his mount tear up the sands.

Amie glared after her boyfriend. "He can be such a show off."

"Just a lil bit." Sarah agreed clutching the horse between her knees and hold in on to the reins for dear life. "All I've ever done on a horse is sit happy and pose for pictures while my cousin led it around my aunts farm, and that was a pony, this is like…driving a tiny Corsa for years then being thrown into a Ferrari!"

Amie laughed, "Well at least your sitting right…don't grip so hard your making her want to run."

Sarah went pale and immediately relaxed her legs, she leant down to look the animal in the eye. "No running, please no running." she begged.

Amie led her through a slow walk showing her how to direct and control the animal before Sarah felt comfortable to escalating to a brisk trot.

Sarah grinned as the wind whipped her hair back and they caught up with the group, riding with the sounds of the sea on the shore leaving their enemies far behind them.  
'It's almost like flying.' she thought remembering the pure joy her vampire self had experienced with the wind under her wings and the dark forests of Transylvania beneath her.

She glance back once to the cave and saw Dracula's dark shape waving from the mouth. 


	17. At the inn

Countess Aurora: Thanks again for a great review! Hope im living up to your expectations!

Ledae Aria : Ok never very good with spelling I blame the American spell check (Joke please don't hurt me!)

Lucy Wanabe : Thanx the horses were tough to write and here comes more craziness

JeanieBeanie: lol Marston said that too me one crazy night bowling on my birthday lol n yeh would love to ride one in real life used to ride my cousins when I was little

Christine Marquez: hey chris new update lol

Raleigh's Haven: Hey glad you liked the first one hope you find this one!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 17

The small train of weary horses finally paused as the sky grew light and the stars began to fade. The morning chorus sounded startlingly loud in the empty forest, making the horses snort and stamp the ground in mild excitement as their riders slipped clumsily from the hard saddles.

Amie managed to make it to the ground without incident, landing daintily on her boot clad feet beside the gentle beast that had carried her throughout the night. Beside her Anna made her own graceful and flawless dismount, swinging her legs over and dropping to the snow she immediately began to check her stallion's legs, muttering soothingly in Romanian as the powerful animal nibbled curiously on the hem of her long riding coat.

Carl's dismount was less co-ordinated, you see those sort of things are better attempted when the rider is awake.

Jory staggered away from his own mount towards the Friar's form and was startled to find that his fall had done little more than make him mutter a few unintelligible phrases in his sleep as his snuggled into the snow. The boy sniggered before stretching out on the cold ground himself.

"My arse is numb." he announced weakly, staring up at the greying sky through the dark branches of the trees.

Anna turned and grinned at him. "Be glad, you'll ach in a few hours. None of you are used to riding so hard."

Bob staggered over to Amie pulling her into a tight hug and grumbled his complaints into her ear as she smiled and patiently kissed his troubles away.

Tony staggered bowlegged past them collapsing with relief on solid ground. "Get a room." he hissed grumpily.

"Or at least a decent sized bush." Marston quipped. He rummaged through one of his saddle-bags and gratefully swallowed a mouthful of his water from his flask throwing it to Jory when his friend held up his cold hand for it.

They all turned when another shape emerged from back along the trail.

The last member of their group appeared atop her troublesome black mare, her hair shinning pale silver in the twilight before the dawn. Amie and Anna shared an amused look when Sarah glared at them from the saddle as she approached.

Riding for the first time was enough to make anyone stiff but the ride they'd all endured had been a hard and lengthy one, making even the most experienced rider uncomfortably and achy. Needless to say any romantic notions Sarah had thought about galloping through dense woodland in a dramatic flight from their enemies had been quickly shattered after the third hour, giving way to stiff legs and backs and the stench of the animal between her legs.

Her discomfort had grown when she'd suddenly felt an icy touch at her back and turned to see Dracula riding smugly behind her, his ghostly arms encircling her waist and a suggestive glint in his eye.

The horse had been less than amused by this phantom intruder and bucked, doing her best to dislodge the count much to Sarah's horror. It was only through her grim determination not to fall and get trampled under the frantic hooves that she managed to hold on at all.

With a few choice curses directed at him, Dracula eventually faded leaving horse and rider breathless and trembling in the dark forest. When her friend's had inquired after the cause of her horses sudden and violent assault. She'd swallowed back shame as she made up an elaborate tale of a giant Stoat rushing across her path and spooking the already skittish creature.

Now as her horse came to a slow stop she gave a dramatic groan and buried her face in the mare's stringy mane. "I really, really miss flying."

Amie grinned patting the horse and undoing her friends stirrups. "No you don't." she muttered patiently.

Sarah glared down at her and announced sarcastically. "My legs feel like they've been ripped off and reattached in the wrong place, I'm never gonna be able to walk again."

"Yeh well when you were flying your whole body had been ripped away and replaced with an evil-bitch-bat from hell!"

Sarah laughed catching the look of indignation Dracula shot at her friend as he flashed into existence for a moment beside her mount. As usual the horse snort and whinnied in fear trying her best to pull out of Amie's hands while Sarah hung on.

"Woo there!" Anna ordered rushing over to help the girls and calm the beast once more. "I think it was a mistake bringing this mare, she spooks to easily."

While Anna and Amie helped Sarah stiffly from the saddle the lads talked amongst themselves waking the sleeping Friar.

"Oh have we stopped?" Carl asked pleasantly stretching beneath his think winter habit and cloak. He froze turning his arm experimentally. "Why does it feel like I've come close to dislocating my shoulder?" he enquired, comically puzzled at the sudden pain in the limb.

Tony grinned at him "That'll happen when you fall off your horse land on it and sleep through the whole thing."

The Friar looked mildly amused "Well I am a heavy sleeper, nothing short of a werewolf can wake me."

"Is that the smell or the roaring?" Jory asked grinning.

"Both actually."

Sarah slumped beside them with relief grimacing as the cold snow touched her aching body. She lay flat closing her eyes and feeling the ground seeming to rise and fall with the rhythm of the horse beneath her.

She groaned loudly "I think I lost my virginity to that saddle somewhere back there." she moaned.

Tony laughed "Thought you liked that horse a little too much." he quipped.

Sarah rolled her head to glare weakly at him. "If I could move I would hurt you right now."

When the fire was lit and the horses unsaddled, Anna passed each of the teens a long bundle wrapped in wool. They received them with eager faces while Sarah looked dejectedly at the small one she had been presented with.

Anna gave her a bright grin. Kneeling she pulled the cloth aside and Sarah gasped to see a beautiful Dagger with a black handle sitting in the folds. When she drew the blade from the leather sheath her eyes sparkled and her fingers traced the Raven emblem that had been pressed into the silver.

It was identical to the daggers the Princess had had made the previous year for each of her friends in-case they ever found themselves in need.

Anna crouched in front of her watching her test the weight and feel of the elegant weapon. "When I had these made." she said regretfully. "They were too be used against you."

Sarah raised her chin to gaze up at her a small smile on her lips. "I know." she whispered.

Anna grinned "Well I'm pleased that I had the foresight to have a seventh blade made…for when you came back to us."

Tears prickled the girl's eyes as she gazed back at the dagger. Her heartfelt thanks were drowned out by gleeful shouts as her friends unwrapped a beautiful sword each.

Only Amie eyed her's with mounting apprehension. "Your giving us swords? Now?" she asked incredulously, grimacing as Tony and Jory immediately began to spar, remembering the training they'd done the year before with Van Helsing and the Princess.

Anna held her gaze gravely. "Though we have left the dead behind us it is only a matter of time before they catch us, we do not know who or what the Necromancer is…I feel better knowing I don't drag you all into this unprepared."

They all huddled around the fire as the morning grew bright and the sun finally found them through the dense canopy above their heads. They'd ridden across a vast distance covering at least 10 kilometres in the hours since they left the Valerius caves.

To spare the horses the hardship of running through deep sand they had broken from the coastline and entered the more favourable conditions within the surrounding forest, sure to keep to the edge of the trees where the Princess could use the stars to navigate.

The air around them still carried the tangy taste of the ocean and throughout the night they'd come across vast cliffs where the waves beat mercilessly against the rocks just meters below them, the dark waters had seemed foreboding and violent in the night. To her shame Sarah had found herself wondering which cliff Anna's body might have been laid to rest on had their last adventure gone tragically amiss.

She supposed there were worse things than to be carried to your ancestors on a swift salty breeze.

"I don't suppose we could just walk the next part?" she asked hopefully when Anna finally began to prepare the horses to leave once more.

"Not unless you want to find yourself running for your life two days from now when the dead catch up and you haven't reached the safety of the port." The Princess told her with a knowing smile.

With a groan Sarah made to stand up. She hissed when she put pressure on her right arm to lift herself up. As she rode the cut on her palm had reopened and now a fresh stream of warm blood trickled through the soiled and crimson bandage.

Carl changed the bandage quickly while the others cleaned up the small fire and repacked the saddle bags, amazed at how much they needed to pack up after only an hour or so of rest. When Sarah tried to stand her stiff legs almost gave way. Seeing her in difficulty Tony offered her, his hand and she took it gladly, grateful of the boy's support as she stood.

"Thanks Tone. Argh, my ass is numb!" she complained shivering. 

Amie grinned at her "That'll happen if you lie in a snow drift for as long as you did." she said grinning.

"You know what they say about sitting on the freezing ground for too long, it'll give you piles." Jory supplied helpfully.

Sarah laughed pulling her riding cloak tighter around herself. Despite the sun the forest was bitterly cold.

She grumbled under her breath as she lifted her saddle and placed it back on to her mare's back. The horse turned to nip at her arms as she bent to do up the straps leaving grass stained teeth marks on her sleeve. "Hey! I know you don't like me but you don't have to bite."

Marston laughed securing the saddle on his own well behaved mount "You know I think you should call your horse Verona, it's like she's been reincarnated into that horse just to make your life hell again."

Sarah laughed "Suits her." she leaned in close to the horse. "You hear that, your called Verona. Lets hope you turn out to be less evil than your name sake." The horse snorted stamping it's foot in irritation.

Sarah finally managed to secure the saddle and clambered stiffly aboard, oddly she felt a little better to be back in the now familiar riding position. Her eyes itched with the need for sleep and her stomach begged for more than the meagre breakfast of bread she'd just eaten.

She pulled her horse beside Tony's smiling brightly at him. "I've decided I think I can put up with this if it means we get to a place with a decent bed and some food."

"And a bar!" Jory called hopefully from behind them.

Carl turned his mount to the head of the group beginning to lead the way while Anna busied herself with her baby.

"Well the Inn is less than a days ride now, if we don't stop we should be there before dusk."

"Do they have baths?" Amie enquired wrinkling her nose at the ripe BO from all of her companions.

The day was spent as most of the night had been, riding as swiftly as possible through the dense Transylvanian woodlands. Travelling through the day proved to be more pleasurable than the blind stumbling they'd been doing in near total darkness the night before.

Even the horses seemed more relaxed. Verona still snorted at various intervals but no more sudden Dracula appearances occurred making for higher spirits between the fearful beast and her equally nervous rider.

By the mid afternoon the horses were nearly dead on their feet, forcing their riders to abandon the saddle and walk at a swift pace leading their mounts. Some time earlier Tony had surprised them all and fallen asleep in the saddle, it was beyond any of them how he managed to stay upright with his head tilted back and his hands still firmly clamped around the reins.

It had taken a lot to drag him from the saddle and to his feet but he'd finally woken and walked merrily along annoyingly refreshed while the rest of them dragged their feet and day dreamed about the promised mattresses and food that lay just beyond the tree line.

To add to their discomfort short sharp snow showers fell hourly, settling feet deep around them. It was all they could do to drag the horses onwards.

As afternoon turned to evening and the temperature dropped dangerously low the Princess went ahead scouting out a clear path and desperately praying for a sight of the Inn and the tiny village that surrounded it.

The Teens trudged along following her tracks.

Too weary to talk, random curses punctuated the silence now and again as they tripped over hidden tree roots or wandered off the path to relieve themselves.

Amie walked side by side with Bob snuggling close to him with their horses walking either side of them. Carl hummed to himself a little ahead of the group jumping when a high pitched shout echoed through the dusky trees.

The Group froze looking at each other in panic. "Was that?"

"Anna!" Carl yelled breaking into a run.

The teens hurried after him weariness forgotten as they hurried to Anna's side.

It came as a shock when the trees thinned and they found themselves running along clear flat ground. Anna stood ahead of them grinning back and pointing to the most welcome sight they'd seen since they'd entered the dark woods.

A large building lay ahead of them it's walls crudely put together with roughly cut stone blocks that gave it a strange slanted sort of look that seemed to be the style of the Transylvanian villages. A small yard fenced in provided stables for numerous horses, piles of hay stood with snow coated peeks in the centre to provide fodder for the occupants. Many small windows dotted the building and a single small wooden door acted as the entrance facing the woods the sign hanging above it showed a picture of a cooper bending over a wooden beer keg beating the metal rings into place with a mallet. 

With amusement and a pang of home sickness Sarah realised that it was almost an exact copy of the signature of their town. The cooper picture graced walls and shopping precincts all over Burton, there was even a statue of it in cooper's square.

Jory laughed aloud when he saw the sign. "Knew Burton wasn't unique, we probably nicked their symbol for our town."

"Those pesky monks." Marston said in amusement.

Beyond the Inn they could just make out scattered houses, though most were lost in the new snow flurry that had begun to fall a few minutes before.

Tony shivered "Bugger this." he exclaimed.

In one swift motion he'd leapt into his saddle and started towards the Inn at a gallop. His friend's followed enthusiastically, focusing on the huge chimney and the smoke pouring out of it.

After stowing the horses in the stables they piled their saddle bags into a dry corner of a stall and started for the main Inn.

The main bar and entrance was packed with customers, men women and children were cramped into every available space, pale and dirty in the glow from the fire that dominated most of the far wall.

As Anna and the teens entered the room fell eerily silent. Staff and patrons turned as one to regard the new comers with cold suspicion.

"Think it was warmer outside." Carl muttered.

Anna scanned the crowd. "It looks like the whole village is here." spotting a large man behind the bar she turned and passed baby Velkan into Sarah's arms.

"Go find somewhere to sit, I'll secure our rooms and see if we can get a ship across the sea."

They walked slowly into the room as Anna meandered her way through the crowd. Unfriendly faces watched the group closely as they stumbled through to the one empty table at the back of the room.

Carl disappeared once they were settled to find Anna.

"Not exactly Chicago rock is it?" Bob muttered glancing around the smoke filled interior.

Across the room Anna had been directed to the Inn keeper and had drew him aside to stand before the fire, they began conversing in rapid Romanian. Carl hovered behind the princess shifting agitatedly, fingering his rosary.

Tony dropped his stuff on his seat. "Right lads I'm going to the bar."

Amie looked at him raising her eyebrow. "With what? You don't have any money."

Tony grinned wolfishly at her drawing a drawstring bag from the folds of his damp shirt.

"Anna said to use that in an emergency." Sarah scolded patting Velkan's back.

Bob snatched the purse. "I'd say this is an emergency."

"Definitely." Jory agreed.

"Indeed, we need booze it's a therapy thing, traumatic events and all." Marston suggested grinning at the girls.

The girls watched apprehensively as the lads walked into the sea of villagers and vanished from sight.

"Oh well it could be worse." Sarah amended when Amie glared at the dusty ceiling and dirt floor around them. "We could be sleeping in the woods tonight and I know how much you hate nature."

Amie rolled her eyes. She glanced around at the patrons grimacing as her eyes fell from one dirty man to another. "The woods would be cleaner." she muttered.

Sarah grinned, Amie looked at her seriously for a moment. "Tony said I whinge, do I whinge?"

Her friend blinked caught off guard by the question. "When did he say that?"

"While we were riding I said it was too cold and he said I whinge…do I whinge?"

Sarah laughed and said in a sympathetic voice "You don't whinge."

Amie scowled "Bob said it exactly like that."

Sarah grinned broadly and changed her tone to firmly state "You don't whinge you plead."

Amie smiled settling back on her stool. "That's more convincing."

Sarah rocked baby Velkan gently. "He doesn't seem too happy does he?" she said to Amie as they watched the inn keeper waving his hands wildly to emphasize whatever he was saying to the princess.

"Nope but can you blame him stuck in this place all day." she wrinkled her nose in disgust eyeing the filthy table.

"Do you think it's too much to hope that our rooms will be cleaner?"

Sarah shrugged shifting on her stool and glancing around nervously.

The inn was silent but for a few whispers and the sound of Anna's hurried conversation. All eyes were on the new comers, most of the village was in the large lounge area and they all seemed to be watching the girls with undisguised suspicion and more than a few lusty stares from some of the men present.

The heavy sword on Sarah's back would be of little use with a baby in her arms, so she was relieved to see Amie's hand resting on the hilt of the dagger at her hip. She'd pulled away the folds of her long travellers coat so it was on display to any of the more unsavoury characters in the bar should they decide to try their luck with the two young women.

"I think they like strangers as much as the mob in Vaseria." she muttered pulling the blanket more securely around Velkan as if it would shield him from the stares they were getting.

Amie used the woollen hat she was holding for Carl to wipe down her stool before she sat on it, smiling sheepishly at Sarah's raised eyebrow. "What wouldn't you give for some Domestos wipes right now." she teased her grinning.

They glanced up as Carl appeared looking a little dazed.

"What's up Carl, You didn't have some Absinthe did you?" Amie asked thinking that if Carl had, Bob and Jory would use it as an excuse too get some for themselves.

The friar blinked at her crossing to sit heavily at the table. "I don't drink and apparently my Romanian is a little rusty."

Sarah frowned. "So you don't know what their talking about?" she asked looking towards Anna who was still engaged in deep discussions with the inn keeper and looked less than happy.

"Is she angry?" Amie asked in concern.

Carl frowned "Well I followed as far as "a ship is ready to cross the sea at midday tomorrow," which means we just have to secure passage on it."

"Well that's good, isn't it?" Sarah asked passing the baby to Amie and stretching her aching arms.

Carl nodded. "Well yes…but then he seemed to get rather excited and … somewhat insulting…towards you I'm afraid Sarah."

The girl froze in surprise. "Me?…why? Is it my sword, cuz he didn't seem too bothered about Anna's or the lads carrying theirs."

Carl shifted uncomfortably. "I don't think it's your sword."

"Then what?" asked Amie in concern cradling the sleeping baby.

"Well…as we came in…it seems one of the villagers were close enough to see the scars…on your throat."

Sarah stiffened, "They saw…?" swallowing hard she tilted her head purposefully so her hair hung over the side of her face covering that part of her throat with a golden curtain.

Amie gave her hand a reassuring squeeze her eyes sympathetic. "What was he saying?" she asked hesitantly.

Carl examined the table top with mild interest. "Well…this is where it got a bit vague, my language skills are limited at best…"

Sarah watched the conversation going on across the room her face burning when the inn keeper met her gaze and said something to Anna pointing furiously at their table.

"Just tell me Carl." she said sighing.

Whatever it was she could deal with it. Being a Wiccan she had to deal with people questioning or even openly condemning her beliefs, being told you're going to hell on an almost daily basis had hardened her to most ignorant comments about her nature and the nature of what she believed to the point where she would laugh and agree or shrug it off with an equally carefree air.

If the inn keeper had a problem with her and the past that was almost suffocating her with its closeness, she couldn't help that. But if she knew what he was thinking maybe she could do something to make it better for the rest of her friends. If worst came to the worst she could look forward to being treated like a leper for the entirety of their short stay.

Carl watched her carefully as he relayed what he'd heard. "He seems to think you carry the devil with you…he called you a Dhampir…I…don't know what that means."

Amie looked at him strangely "You don't? But your supposed to know everything…"

Carl looked mildly put out "Well it's not a term I've come across before…this area of the world's remote and primitive, the people have their own beliefs."

"So Sarah's a Dhampir…" Amie muttered "I don't think that's a good thing."

"She's a what now?" Asked Jory sliding into his stool and placing a large tankard of Ale on the table.

Sarah smiled welcoming the distraction as the lads reappeared laden with drinks from the bar; all apparently unconcerned that they were the centre of unwanted attention. She had no doubts their new found confidence was helped along by the long swords and silver daggers at their waists.

"What are you drinking?" she asked eyeing the frothy liquid suspiciously.

Bob grinned at her settling next to Amie and giving her a quick kiss. "Ale, a real man's drink." he said in a deep voice.

Amie rolled her eyes.

Marston placed his own drink on the table "So ladies…and Carl." he amended grinning apologetically at the Friar. "What's new? Are thunderbirds go yet?"

"Anna's trying to convince the inn keeper that Sarah's not the devil." Amie said helpfully.

Tony grinned "So she's lying to him then."

The sound of a chair scrapping the stone floor put a hold to the easy banter and everyone tensed. The humour was an easy way to overlay the fear and unease that they were all feeling but it was a thin shield, splintered as three of the more burly villagers began to approach the table.

From her place beside the Inn keeper Anna watched the villagers making their way across the room. She frowned keeping her attention on them while the inn keeper continued his panicked ramblings.

"We are accosted in the night by this creature who comes from the sea to take our children and now you bring the dead into our midst! I will not have Nosferatu in my inn!" Anna eyed the pompous man who would dare to insult one of her companions in her presence. 

"She is not a vampire! She's as human as you are, the devil does not hold power over her and the dead would have followed us regardless."

He locked gazes with her defiantly a foolish attempt to intimidate the princess of the gypsies, clearly this ignorant little man believed her families power had been laid to rest along with her father and brother. He was surely mistaken.

Around them the villagers showed just as much impudence even going so far as to rise out of their seats, the women hurrying the children out of the room. Anna recognised the malevolence and stupidity of the mob in them having led several similar in her own village against strangers…but she was not a stranger to these people she was their sovereign, responsible for delivering their land and homes from the plight of Dracula's rule. How easily those deeds we're forgotten that the ignorant ramblings of a middle-aged, overweight landlord could sway them so easily.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the three large village men crowding around her friend's table .

Carl shifted uncomfortably as one of the men leered over him and snatched up his tankard making a big show of taking a big swig. The friar frowned "Err…I believe that that was mine?" The brute placed the empty tankard down, flecks of foam sticking unpleasantly to his beard and moustache. "What makes you think that Monk?" he roared spittle flying from his lips.

All hands had gone to their daggers, Sarah's on to her sword the teens highly aware that a vulnerable and sleeping Baby lay in Amie's shielding arms.

Carl met the man's gaze nervously but as it was not his way to lie he pointed out the position of the tankard. "Well you see…it was sitting in front of me…I was drinking from it…and actually I'm just a Friar"

The teens glanced from the friar to the towering villager who wouldn't have been out of place in a modern wrestling match, Sarah and Amie winced at how patronising Carl sounded.

Wordlessly the villager's two cronies walked around to flank their friend and Carl found himself suddenly surrounded. The first villager wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and glared down at him, his greasy black hair sticking to his dirty forehead as he bent low so that his face was inches from Carl's and the Friar's eyes watered from the stench of his breath.

"There your wrong…Father." he said sneering at the holy title. "I was born and bred on the soil your stool is on." Carl glanced quickly down at the dirt floor clearly hoping that the comment wasn't to be taken literally.

The villager's sneering grin grew as the Friar glanced back up at him. "This is my cousin's, husband's Inn therefore the ale, the tankard all belong to me."

"Or your cousin depending how you look at it." Tony said sarcastically his hand tightening on his dagger as the villager's attention was transferred from poor Carl to himself.

Sarah's stomach twisted nauseatingly as they approached her friend. 'Apparently confidence with weapons is a bad, bad thing.'

Tony stood to meet them, Marston, Jory and Bob (after he pulled his arm out of Amie's grasp) flanking him.

Amie went pale, her eyes flashing with a wild mixture of anger and fear. "I don't want Bob in a bar fight." she hissed at Sarah who was busy trying to figure out if she could use her sword with the sheath on in a brawl and not kill somebody. It didn't help that Dracula suddenly appeared beside her looking over it all with a mildly amused expression.

"It seems that in four hundred years people are still willing to defend their honour, even if they don't believe they have any." he muttered in detached fascination.

Carl stood swiftly placing himself between the teens and the villagers his hands out stretched keeping them apart. "Now there's no need for violence…" he started, but apparently the villagers thought otherwise.

Carl sprawled on the floor dazed at the contact of the dark haired villager's fist with his chin.

With a roar the lads leapt on to him and the brawl began.

Sarah and Amie shrieked leaping out of their seats as the table went over and they found themselves looking down at Marston who put a hand to his split lip and scrambled back into the fray for revenge.

The girls crouched behind the overturned table shielding baby Velkan from flying debris as other village men joined the battle apparently intent on ripping the four teenage boys apart.

It was an all out bar Brawl. Across the room the village men leapt to their feet with gleeful shouts, grabbing bottles and breaking legs off chairs and tables, intending to aid their neighbours against the strangers.

Oblivious to the new threat Marston caught Tony's eye, unable to resist a little Bruce Lee impersonation. He stood still, pretending to notice the blood on his lip for the first time. With a neutral expression he touched the blooded cut, looked at the crimson liquid and made a great show of tasting it.

Tony began to laugh but it was cut short when one of the villagers took the opportunity to deliver a vicious uppercut to his chin, slamming his jaw together painfully with a loud crack that echoed over to Marston.

'Maybe not the best time to piss about' he thought horrified.

Two of the larger villagers leapt at him then and he began to block their kicks and punches feeling strangely detached as his karate training came through and his body went on auto pilot, throwing him from one move to the other before he could think. Before long he was using his dagger in it's sheath as a club, unwilling to do harm with the bare blade

Bob had never learnt to fight in a professional sense yet he delivered vicious punches and kicks to the men around him cursing and using his sword like a staff to knock them from their feet. "Thank-you Van Helsing." he yelled as his trained blows landed knocking a man unconscious and breaking another's nose. Suddenly his foot was caught by one of the men on the floor and he lost his balance landing hard and sending his sword tumbling over to the far wall. Quickly he kicked at the hands holding him and rolled on to his back suddenly finding himself face to face with a man twice his size sporting a black smiths heavy beating hammer. With a roar the large man brought the weapon down in a blow that would have crushed his skull.

Amie screamed from somewhere behind him, but he couldn't move to avoid the blow. Wincing he closed his eyes and waited for the sickening impact.

None came. The shouting around him began to die and he opened his eyes to see Jory standing at his side with a bloody nose watching something with wide astonished eyes. Bob sat up and spotted the black smith trying desperately to defend himself from Anna's sheathed sword.

Her teeth were clenched and her hair flew as she mercilessly beat him tearing the hammer from his grasp and flinging it into the fire. The villagers froze and scattered before this single combat while the teens watched in awe of the Princess.

Anna finished it with a swift kick to the insolent man's head sending him sprawling unconscious to land at the feet of the inn keeper. Panting she glanced around to make sure her friend's weren't seriously hurt. They looked back at her with minor cuts and bruises Sarah and Amie coming out from behind their upturned table with baby Velkan screaming at the top of his little lungs.

Furious Anna turned on the crowd snatching the inn keeper by the shirt and throwing him down with his face turned towards the young girl trying to calm her son.

"You are lucky I spare your life after you endangered my Child!" she spat.

Leaving him in disgrace on the dirt floor she leapt on to a nearby table towering with fury over the villagers.

"A baby! Have you all lost your senses so that you would attack children and infants!" she growled.

She drew her sword getting a little satisfaction from the action when several of the villagers winced and drew back from her. She pointed in Carl's direction as he straightened his habit. "A holy man…is it any wonder God has abandoned you to the demons that plague you and the dead that now come from the forest! My family has defended yours for centuries! It is through my actions and my husband, the great Gabriel Van Helsing that you and your families still live!"

She glared down at a young woman who clutched a small boy to her. "We didn't protect your children with our lives so you would attack ours!"

"You abandoned us!" yelled the inn keeper caught in an almost religious fever, determined to keep control. "Where is Van Helsing now, when we need him! You bring one touched by the devil among us!"

Sarah nervously fiddled with her hair to hide her scars as the villagers followed his accusing finger to her. Her friends gathered around her instantly, their blades thus far unsheathed, glinted menacingly in the firelight, sending a clear message to anyone stupid enough to act on the inn keepers accusations.

The Princess stepped smoothly from her perch and strode towards him, the crowd parted to let her through and the insolent man quailed in front of her as she towered over him.

"That girl has less of the devil in her than you, she is kin to me as are her friends. Would you openly accuse a member of the Valerius family of devilry?" she demanded.

The inn keeper's large eyes widened still further at this but he was saved the indignity of his response when the Inn's door crashed open sending a flurry of newly falling snow and the bitter wind carrying it into the room. All heads turned towards the man who rushed through, he yelled something in Romanian that sent the villagers into a frenzy. Those closest scrambled forwards to help him slam and barricade the door.

The teens watched in amazement as the mob turned from them and began to secure windows, utter terror on each dirty face.

"What's going on, what did he say?" asked Amie in confusion.

Sarah turned to Carl who crossed himself and muttered a Latin Prayer. "Carl what is it what's happening!" she asked urgently.

The Friar turned to his anxious friends "The Dead are approaching the village."

"That's not possible." Anna snapped colour draining from her face. "We left them at least three days behind!"

The Princess rushed to the doorway, anxious villagers huddled together as the teens and Carl pushed through the crowd to flank her on the step just outside. Thick snow flakes flashed white in the porch lamp, they fell with astonishing speed, whipped by the bitter winter wind. The small group said nothing as they stared out into the night, past the curtain of snow and to the shadows that moved beneath the distant trees of the forest.

The snow fall began to thin until only the odd tiny flake sailed past. Moonlight forced it's way through the clouds, the waxing orb cast a bright silver glow on the snow covered ground and the shuffling grinning figures emerging from the trees and heading for the small inn.

"Oh my God." Anna breathed in horror.

"It's an army." Sarah whispered.

Note: wow that was a long one. Forgive me if the bar brawls brief I want to get to the real action.  
Read and review as always! 


	18. Under siege

Fortune Zyne : Definitely justified lol

JeanieBeanie: Hey Burton! Coolies! The full town name is Burton on Trent cuz we're on top of the river Trent. Bar brawl could have been better might go back once the stories done and touch it up a bit maybe a few of the earlier chapters too.

Raleigh's Haven : No comment on the Marston and Sarahness lol (he told me the other day that chapter 16 reads like an erotic stable hand novel lol just because I had him pick Sarah up on to the horse lol)

Christine Marquez : here's my update! Lol and dead people are pretty much a running theme with Van Helsing ;)

Countess Aurora: lol Marston dictated the whole bruce lee thing to me when I was writing it. He sent a whole email on what he wanted to do in a fight. Bob did the same only his email said ?"I want to do what the guy does in desperado" yeh that helped.

Note: I love getting reviews which is why I take the time to try and put a reply to the ones I get so please keep em coming good or bad you guys are teaching me to write better!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 18

A mouse crept silently on wary claws, his back to the cold stone wall and his ears flickering at the slightest sound.

Stale bread crumbs littered the damp floor too tempting to resist.

A tiny pink nose smelt the air detecting nothing but the filth in the straw around it, satisfied that there was no danger it scampered eagerly forward, it's clawed hands seizing the largest of the crumbs.

The stone hit it with a force that snapped its spine before it could blink, a silent and deadly assault from the shadows. Van Helsing allowed a self satisfied smile to grace his lips briefly.

In a croaky voice he address the shadows his chains rustling as he retrieved the small body and held it up in the light from the tiny window. "Well my sanity may be slipping but my aim is still perfect."

After a moments interest the small body was flung from the cell and out into the world to rain down like a furry missile on the unfortunates below. The hunter allowed the light of the sun to touch his face growling when his filthy beard prevented it from warming his skin.

He swept his hand through the rough hair, shaking out the remnants of his last ration, a scrap of stale bread that had done little more than tantalise his ravenous hunger. 

His captors hadn't visited him lately allowing for a brief reprieve in which his beaten and bruised back had begun to grow less stiff and sore, using the precious time to heal itself before his next humiliating torture.

A steady hammering sounded from below his cell. A rhythmic beat that shattered his silent world. Curious he stretched his chains to their limit gritting his teeth as the rusty manacles bite into his damaged wrists and ankles, his eyes blinked as the sunlight fell fully upon them and he craned his neck painfully to try and see out of his small window.

Below him the square of the small village stood bustling with carpenters. A stage was being erected in the centre of the activity, a solid structure stable enough for several men to stand upon without fear of collapse.

Van Helsing's mouth twitched and his hands clenched heedless of the blood dripping from his wrists. He was looking upon the gallows, the stage upon which he would end his life.

After four centuries of combat, of doing God's work he was to be hung as an infidel, a sinner and a murderer. His body would be desecrated, denied the proper burial and paraded through the streets of Europe.

Dracula emerged from the shadows his face hard as he followed his old friends gaze. "Does it frighten you my friend?" he asked curiously, watching the hunter for any tell tale signs of fear.

Van Helsing didn't take his eyes off the stage. For the first time in the months since his capture he felt alive, old scars tingled with phantom pain as fresh as the day he received them. People and places long forgotten awakened in his mind, battles he had fought with Vladislaus, knight of the holy order. Truly he had already led an extraordinary life.

"Does it?" Dracula prompted.

"Does death frighten me?" the hunter whispered searching for a trace of fear beneath his elation at finally seeing his entire past stretched before him like some great myth, a hero's life to be told long after he was gone in his world and already in another.

"Death does not frighten me. I've lived for so long I'd begun to think myself immortal."

Dracula laughed at the irony of that as he turned and walked towards the wall he gave one last look at his former friend. "Truly Gabriel, no hero is mortal until he dies and I hope you won't be joining me just yet."

Van Helsing smiled coldly, he turned and found himself facing the cold empty cell once more. "Only if you know something I don't." he muttered.

Below his cell Igor watched as the gallows were constructed, with a mad cackle he turned to look up at the small window watching Van Helsing's shadow pull back into the darkness once more.

The small inn seeming to enclose upon the people in it, the air was soon thick with fear, as the villagers worked to turn it in to a fort to endure the coming siege. 

Marston was humbled to find himself working side by side with the large man who had given him his split lip. They lifted one of the large wooden tables and hurriedly tipped it on it's side to cover one of the many windows.

The large man paused, looking at him strangely before giving him a curt nod of thanks and hurrying off to aid his friends. It was a momentary truce between the villagers and the strangers, each working tirelessly towards the same goal. Defence and survival.

Anna oversaw the preparations, her eyes scanning the crowd for trouble and watching her friends closely. Velkan squirmed in her arms and she smiled at her son, he was her hope, her chance at a new life with family. If the Valerius legacy was to continue at all, he would survive and if she had to fight an army of the un-dead, alone, outside an Inn, on the shores of the Adriatic sea to ensure that he did, then that was what she would do.

A young peasant girl of no more than fourteen hurried passed her, on her way to take two younger siblings down into the wine cellar where all of the children were being sent out of harms way. Anna watched her carefully, saw the way she soothed the tiny girl at her side smoothing back her dark brown hair with a loving gesture.

The girl bowed low when Anna approached her showing her the respect the other villagers had failed to. The Princess smiled at that, sure that she could trust this girl with her precious son.

"Keep him safe for me, if the worst should happen save him and as many of the other children as you can." she told the young frightened girl sternly. "A ship leaves for Rome at midday tomorrow, take it and go to the Vatican I promise you'll be safe there."

She watched emotionally as her son was born away down into the dark cellar and the trap door was bolted shut, a tattered rag covered the telltale wooden door and two of the barmaids hurriedly covered it with the dirt from the floor until it was completely hidden.

If the barricades held, they need only wait until dawn and the sun to drive the unholy corpses away; but if the barricade fell…

Anna turned and leapt on to the mantle leaning the few feet over to stare out at the dark forest, through the tiny spy hole left in the swiftly boarded up window.

The shadows of the night shifted and moved as figures melted out of the dark trees making an unhurried advance towards the crowded inn.

Silence fell suddenly around her and the Princess turned to see the floor cleared of furniture and the windows and doors barred with tables and chairs. Hopeful faces turned towards her, sweethearts clutched each other close and families huddled together in terror.

Beyond the villagers her friends stood next to the fire, their faces cold and determined as those who remembered a fight fought against the worst of the un-dead and won. They stood bravely side by side, not the children she'd met confused and naïve in the centre of Vaseria over a year ago, but young men and women worthy to wield the blades of the Valerius armoury to fight for a world not their own.

Her gaze fell on Sarah and they shared a nod of understanding, Van Helsing was the girl's hero and she would stop at nothing to help return him to his family, it was a devotion to him second only to Anna's love for him as her husband. They would not fall to the dead tonight, the barricade would hold…it had too.

Leaping down she made her way to the crowd retrieving her discarded sword and dagger from beside the fire. "All of you stay here." she ordered the villagers. "I will slow the dead and thin their ranks I need every able bodied man to be the last defence if they break through. Defend your lives and your families, those who fall…" she paused looking around at the sea of pale faces.

Behind the bar an axe adorned the back wall it's blade sharp and battle ready. She reached up and took it down holding it high.

"Those who fall, remove their heads and limbs before burial, lest they rise again." she glared at the inn keeper daring him to challenge her authority, but he remained silent avoiding her eyes as she replaced the axe and made her way to the door.

Carl gazed fearfully at her as he stood with the teens by the entrance. "Why can't the village men fight? Their able enough." he asked.

Anna shook her head glancing back. Several of the men were still unconscious from the brawl while others sported bloody noses, certainly the black smith wouldn't be wielding his hammer anytime soon. "I need them here incase I am overcome."

"So we'll give you ten minutes then?" Bob spat sarcastically "That's a fucking army out there, if you go alone your giving them exactly what they want."

Anna glared at him "We don't know what they want." she pointed out, pulling away the first plank of wood from the barricade.

"What about more weapons? Couldn't we get the ones from the bags in the stable?" Amie asked hopefully thinking of the damage the flame thrower could do to the approaching dead.

Anna shook her head "There's no time they'd be upon us before we managed to prepare that arsenal, I will have to make do with plain steel."

She tugged on the wood that had been hammered in ripping the nails out either side and tossing it away.

"When I'm through you will barricade the door, no one who goes out comes back in, do you understand?"

"We're coming with you!" Sarah said firmly helping her remove the table over the main door.

"Yeh, we're not going to let you get yourself munched up by Shaun of the bloody dead!" Marston agreed.

Anna frowned as she uncovered the door and looked out at the approaching corpses. She turned to see the teens beside her, their blades drawn and ready, anger and courage flashing in each of their young eyes.

"Come on I want to kick some Zombie ass!" Tony exclaimed impatiently reaching passed her to pull the bolt back. He exclaimed in surprise when Anna grasped his wrist.

She looked over them all apologetically. "I must do this alone, if I fail…Carl will get you to Rome and Gabriel."

Sarah stepped forward meeting the Princess's gaze. "We're coming, that's an army out there…you can't fight an army."

"Do we have to call it an army? Can't we say a gang or something?" Amie pleaded gripping the hilt of her sword tightly.

"Or a mob." Jory suggested.

Anna ignored them staring at the girl in front of her. "Valerius fight alone." she said with sadness.

"Not anymore. Your not a Valerius anymore! You're a Van Helsing." the girl exclaimed her eyes flashing.

Anna stared at her, "My family fought by my side and died…Gabriel fought by my side. I won't lose any of you to that fate."

"You won't." Jory yelled "Why'd you give us swords if you didn't want us to use them?"

As one the group rushed Anna and the door, pushing past the started Princess and pulling back the bolts.

For the second time in her life Sarah found herself rushing away from the safety of an Inn about to face an enemy she couldn't possibly destroy alone. But this time it was different, this time her yell of anger and fear as she charged towards the enemy was echoed by her friends who ran at her side.

Anna grinned as she watched them rush out, her sword quivered in her hand demanding vengeance for the lives lost at Vaseria.

"I'll just stay here then?" Carl called as she rushed out into the night.

Adrenaline rushed through their bodies turning fear into anger and the need to attack as their feet drew them close to their enemies.

Marston and Bob whooped joyfully, this was the sort of thing they'd dreamed about. A full out battle, they'd had tantalising glimpses of them the year before but those fights were nothing compared to facing an army.

Marston selected his first target. The zombie had been a man in his early thirties in life, a farmer by the look of the poor and tattered rags that hung dark with mud around him. He favoured his right leg dragging the left awkwardly behind him in the snow.

"I'm gonna go all Bruce Campbell on your ass!" Marston yelled swinging his sword violently .

Lost in the moment Bob caught Marston's attention aiming his sword at the approaching horde like a shot gun. "Hey Marston! This is my boom stick!"

Marston barely had time to laugh before the dead fell upon them.

Jory tackled the army face first diving among them with a wild yell. He disappeared within the mass as the dead milled around, pushing against each other to reach the crouching boy. Gripping his new sword he gritted his teeth and dragged it in a circle through feet and legs toppling the bodies until they squirmed around him blinking stupidly as their limbs were easily removed, dead tissue and crumbling bone was no obstacle in the face of Valerius steel.

He gritted his teeth as the sword snagged briefly on the bones, his stomach twisting at the ease of it all.

He stood amid the carnage breathing heavily and watched with disgust as one or more of the disabled dead clawed the ground, dragging themselves towards him. He became a butcher removing one head then another until his hands ached and sweat dripped from his forehead.

Amie was fairing less well. Her general reaction to danger was to shut her eyes and she did so on reflex as she rushed headlong at the dead. The first impact knocked her back and she stumbled blindly, her sword swinging wildly before her. Cold sticky gore coated her fingers as her attackers stumbled swiftly into her blind swings, the blade catching on bone now and again when she was lucky enough to make contact. She cried out at the sensation swinging harder in a panicked circle and clenching her's eyes tighter.

Sarah found herself face to face with a skilled boy, a former blacksmith who seemed to have some experience with combat. He hadn't been dead long, perhaps one of the new recruits as the army had made it's way to the inn, so his reactions were faster, his eyes more intelligent as he matched her thrusts with her sword catching it on the metal handle of his large smiths hammer.

She felt herself beginning to tire and feinted a blow to his head to end it quickly. Predictably he raised the hammer to counter, eyes wild as she twisted the sword for a backslash across his abdomen. Allowed a small reprieve as he stumbled back she glanced around and found Amie still swinging blindly, twenty of the dead closing in on her in a rough circle.

Screaming her friend's name she ran, cleaving a path through the crowd of dead. When she reached the brunette's side she had to bring her own sword up to knock away a blind swing that might have taken her arm off. Shocked by the sudden clash of metal Amie opened her eyes.

Sarah glared at her "What you can keep your eyes open when you stick a sword in my back but you can't while your fighting these guys!" she asked sarcastically.

Amie grimaced turning so that her back was against her friend's and they both faced one side of the encompassing circle.

"That was different!" Amie yelled crying out as she killed her first zombie with her eyes open, turning quickly to the next so she didn't have to see the dismembered corpse slump wetly to the floor. "You were a vampire! These are icky!" together they began to slowly dispatch the circle.

Tony was attacking with both his dagger and his sword he held the smaller blade in his left hand holding it like a stiletto blade so that the blade stuck out towards his enemies at the side making it easier for him to slash up and down the torso of anything approaching from the side while his sword took care of those ahead.

He sliced out at a man who was using a branch as a natural club. There was little more than a rush of air as his blade cut across through the fragile left collar bone and travelled through the torso until the diagonal gash exploded out and the body dropped like a stone, tripping the dead scrambling up behind him.

"Tony your right!" Anna warned her boots slipping in the muddy slush that the snow had become beneath their feet, as she took out the two dead rushing him from the side.

He winced as she seemed to explode from between the two, heads and limbs flying in her onslaught. He gave her the briefest nod of acknowledgment before resuming his fight. Taking the offensive he pushed forwards with a wild yell until he was surrounded on all sides by the now dwindling horde. The battle became a blur of flashing silver and flesh as he mercilessly destroyed their ranks, it was nearly over, they were going to win.

Marston and Bob worked like men possessed their gleeful shouts and yells echoing over the deafening roar of the dead as they cleaved a path through them.

"It' just like kill bill in Technicolor!" Bob called panting with exertion as he turned and relived another poor dead peasant of a limb.

Marston grunted with effort as he ripped his sword free from it's lodge in another's spine. His chest heaved and his face stung where on of the creatures had come too close, clawing shallow scratches next to his left ear. It was the price he'd paid for stumbling once in the slick mud and one he'd not repeated.

The battle was proving to be more exhausting than he'd imagined, his bruises from the bar brawl slowing him down more than he'd liked but he was still pleased with himself, proud of all he'd remembered from his few days training and his experience in helping to dispatch Aleera the previous year. Frustration grew as the dead became more resourceful paying little attention to the limbs they'd lost they resumed their attacks over and over until he managed to relieve the body of it's head.

Sensing the creatures to his right he lashed out again and again dropping to a crouch to deal a back handed blow behind the knees of one snapping it's bones and popping it's knees cap, the creature let out a rasping yell as it's leg gave way and jagged bone fragments punctured the shrivelled skin. Marston didn't have time to move away as it fell one top of him. Instinctively he raised his hand out and too his surprise felt the skin on the creatures chest break, his hand was forced, by it's own crashing weight, through the bones of it's rib cage and in among its organs.

Boy and dead man stared at each other in almost comical shock but then Marston's face turned into a maniacal grin, his fingers closed around the hard abject touching them and he tugged his hand out holding out the dead man's heart before his eyes in his own gory enactment of Indiana Jones temple of doom.

The creature had little time to appreciate this confusing turn of events before Bob's sword scalped him and Marston pushed the corpse off himself the heart still clutched in his hand.

"Oh God James why!" Bob cried weakly cringing at the sight and it suddenly occurred to the boy just what he had done.

"Gahh!" he throw the hard slimy object into the trees of the nearby forest shuddering as he wiped the gore from his fingers a pungent smell rising from the black jelly coating them.

"Think you took that a little too far." his friend commented in disgust.

"I was in the moment."

Anna fought pausing every few moments to gauge the positions of her young companions and how they were faring. Pride filled her as they slowly drove the horde back leaving the bodies in their wake that couldn't possibly rise again.

It was as though they'd been born to fight their blows were calculated using the corpses limited reactions and intelligence to their advantage and quickly dispatching the weakest of the horde. It troubled her slightly that they were winning so easily, where were the creatures that had driven her from her home? Where were the weapons so similar to Gabriel's that had given them the advantage the last time they'd fought?

There was little time for her to ponder such questions as a sudden flash of light caught her attention and she rolled to avoid the now familiar scythe of the undertaker. Back on her feet she spun and met him in his second swing her blade up and clashing with the cruelly curved scythe as it bore down upon her.

"Bow to death Princess!" the blond corpse cackled.

Note: sorry another cliff hanger but notice that it only took me a few days to update so there will be no tracking down…right looks around readers fearfully I warn you I have a dog and im not afraid to use it!

Read and Review! 


	19. Christened with tears

Marston: Thanks for the review glad your still reading along. Hmmm gonna have to work on what you can do to follow up the heart thing maybe more action with Sarah and the horses? Joke (kinda…)

JeanieBeanie: Thanks for the review Bob finally has a fan he'll be happy :D

Christine Marquez: Can't believe you managed to update three times before I'd even finished writing this next bit! Your making me look bad lol I believe the crazyness with me and my friend's fighting zombies is that there is noway the lads wouldn't and noway me and Amie would let them go out on their own, can you imagine the madness they would cause! We left them alone for one day at school and that ended in smashed lights. Leaving them with swords and zombies would be a bad bad thing.

Fortune Zyne : lol im actually more flattered with the screaming than words lol shows im doing a good job :D

Strgazer: Yay new reviewer to feed my addiction! Glad your enjoying the story!

Lucy Wanabe : lol I told marston the "screaming fan" part not sure whether he was afraid or flattered. Yeh I don't seem to be letting my characters rest much do I? hmm shall I be nice and give them at least a chapter with no running screaming or zombie-ness…might depend on how sadistic I am :D

Note: sorry it's been awhile since I updated I would like to say it's because of my busy social life…but id be lying lol actually you can all blame my new doctor who obsession and the 950 Doctor who fan fictions on this site :D well this is a short one but don't worry will be updating again if not tonight then tomorrow and we'll be back in the action :D

Also I don't have a clue if CPR was around in the 1800's but for the sake of my story Carl at least knew it. Anyway this is Van Helsing since when has historical accuracy factored in?

Disclaimer: I own nothing this is all purely for my own amusement.

Chapter 19

Carl paced the Inn's interior wringing his hands nervously, the slightest noise from beyond the walls made him glance up hopefully eagerly waiting for Anna or at least one of the others to appear and announce a victory. After the third such incident he took to leaning on the door staring determinedly at the other people in the small inn reassuring them with a grin or pointed comment when an occasional scream or cry from beyond the walls made them cower in each others arms.

In the months since Van Helsing's disappearance he'd grown stronger, he'd had no choice in the matter Anna had needed him to be strong for her. In the moments when her carefully placed mask would crack and she'd cry out in the dark for her husband to come back to her he'd been there, to offer her comfort or silently leave her to her desperate grievances. The night of Velkan's birth still haunted him. She'd been having pains all day, pushing him away when he tried to help her to move around or go to bed.

As night drew close she'd collapsed in the armoury her water broken and pooling around her.

"Anna the babies coming now!" he'd yelled trying to half carry half drag her too her room, his arms and hands bruised and bleeding as she fought against him, against the treachery of her own body.

"No! It can't, not until Gabriel…" her words were swallowed as the first contraction hit and she'd gone limp in his arms, allowing him to finally get her up on to the fine bed heedless of filth that would soon coat the sheets.

"Oh god Gabriel!" she groaned her knuckles white as she clutched the sheets gritting her teeth, sweat beading her brow. Carl had stood by her side brushing damp hair from her face and mopping her brow. It had been minutes later when he'd rushed from the manor, running like a mad man down the muddy slope in the driving rain to the village.

The Elder women of the village had come immediately after sending messengers out to search urgently for Van Helsing. (of course they didn't know then that the messengers would return as the walking dead, heralding the newest threat to the Valerius line) He'd been shut out of the room, grimacing as Anna fought against the midwives themselves until they were forced to hold her down lest she damage herself and the child.

"We need water and poppy." the old woman informed him in the hall, the closed door doing little to muffle the angry Romanian curses and screams coming from the poor princess within.

"Is that really necessary?" he'd asked wiping sweat from his own brow, never had he had to drug a birthing woman in the few births he'd been present at, then again few woman he'd know had fought so fiercely against their own bodies. He'd dutifully provided all they'd asked for crossing himself as he added the poppy to the water.

"Anna forgive me." he'd whispered as he'd tilted her tear streaked face up and allowed the drug to enter her mouth. Her eyes were wild and accusing as she tasted the poppy and tried to spit it out choking when the midwife held a hand over her mouth to force her to swallow. She'd quieted after that sinking back finally into the cushions, the long nightshirt she wore already soaked with sweat and birthing fluids and more than a little blood which was what had deeply concerned him. She'd looked at him then, her eyes shinning with tears of terror and despair and whispered what he'd known for far too long.

"Gabriel's not coming is he Carl…I can't…I can't have this child without him." The next contraction left her breathless, sobs assaulting her throat as the urge to push became too much and she bore down pushing with all her might.

Her screams followed Carl into the hallway where he had been ushered by one of the younger midwives. He'd been pacing for hours when the door opened again.

"It's a breech birth, the child has not turned."

He'd stared at the woman in horror, his eyes drawn to the door as another tortured scream echoed through the ancient wood. "Will the child survive? Will she survive?" he'd asked trembling, his hand hastily covered his eyes so the woman wouldn't see the horror and terror of such a thought. Van Helsing was, god knows where and his wife and child were both in mortal danger. He couldn't imagine the pain Anna was in right now.

"We are doing what we can but she is losing a lot of blood."

"Oh God! Gabriel where are you?" Anna screamed, the words barely coherent in her terrified and exhausted state. Another woman appeared rushing from the room, her hands covered in blood and birthing fluid as she disappeared down the hall leaving the door open in her wake.

Carl had paced before that door trying to block out the screams, block out everything but the midwifes words. "How much blood? Will she be alright?" he asked shooting another glance at the open door when a strangled cry accompanied by another scream reached his ears.

"We are doing what we can but it is not uncommon for complications to occur." the woman explained agitated. She left him to ponder this and raced back into the room.

"Van Helsing you should be here." He'd whispered to the shadows. He'd prayed then… for hours he'd prayed. Begging for a miracle for the lives of the child and it's brave mother and for an absent father who'd promised to return and had not. The reason for that was something Carl had not pondered nor intended too, Van Helsing would return to the family he had left behind, but at that moment Carl wasn't so sure that family would be here to welcome him.

Finally he'd heard a shout from the room a cry in Romanian that roused him from his prayers and sent him flying into the room.

"It's a boy!"

The sight that greeted him in that room made the colour drain from his face, the village woman were scattered, three tending to Anna who was doing little than writhing weakly in her bed, whilst three others huddled over a tiny blue form in the corner.

"A boy…" Anna whispered weakly, "He's Velkan…he's called…we said a boy would be Velkan…" she whimpered, her eyes turned to Carl's but she couldn't see him, too caught up in fevered delusions and the calm of the poppy she'd been drugged with.

Carl doubted she even remembered those moments he'd never asked her about them but they were as vivid to him as if he still stood in that room beside the gore soaked bed and heard the midwives muttering softly.

"Not breathing…"

"Still birth…"

"Fetch the priest…"

He still didn't know what made him push them aside and examine that baby. God's will perhaps? Or his own desire to see that child live, to see Anna with a new joy in her dark life.

Much too the woman's dismay he'd hurried from the room the small body clutched tightly to him until he found the adjoining bedroom and locked himself in.

He'd placed the small form on too the bed retrieving a warm towel from where it hung beside the fire to place it on. Gently he'd placed his ear to the boy's chest listening for the slightest beat of a heart and finding none. He'd fought and prayed for that child's life for twenty minutes he'd massaged the infants heart, two fingers pumping gently but determinedly on it's chest and a gently breath of air into it's mouth until his arm ached and his throat was harsh.

Then, miraculously, the child stirred. A choking cry echoed in the silent room until it grew to a loud wail from a healthy set of lungs. He'd wept then, wrapping the infant in the towel and sobbing on to its head. Gabriel and Anna's child had been christened with tears from the man who had dared to hope for a miracle.

Anna's recovery had been slow, it was another month before she was able to hold Velkan and feed him without help from one of the village women. Even Carl had squirmed while watching one of the villagers perform a hurried blood transfusion after the initial birthing was over with. Now nearly four months later she was back to her old self rigorous training gave her back her lithe figure and her fighting skills. When he'd commented on the swiftness of this Anna had merely grinned and said the woman of her family had always been strong.

The friar sighed at those memories, all of it seemed such a short time ago and now Anna and her child's life was in danger once again as well as the lives of his young friends. He wondered briefly if there was ever such a thing as a happy ending.

Note: Don't hate me for this chapter but I felt sorry for Carl all alone with the villagers and thought would be a great time to break up the mindless violence with a little flash back!

Review! Be nice and I'll get the next chapter up A.S.A.P 


	20. Battlefield

Note: I know I said this would be up sooner than this but my muse abandoned the van helsing front in favour of Dr who, damn BBC making the best programme in the world! I'm lost in the Bad wolf theories flying around! Any Dr Who fans in attendance? Doesn't have to be ninth Dr just show me I'm not a fan alone here!

Disclaimer: If I owned Van Helsing Anna and Dracula would still be alive! But since I don't I can only hope Summers sees sense for the sequel.

Chapter 20

"Traitor!" Anna hissed, raw fury making her hands tremble as she faced this corpse of the man who had betrayed her village to Dracula, who had danced on the graves of those he buried, his pockets full of the wealth the Count's actions had bestowed upon him. How many of the more suspicious deaths had he been behind in life? The children that were found with peculiar head wounds, more human cruelty than supernatural mauling.

The undertaker grinned at her spinning the long scythe in his hands as he circled her. His hair had been torn off in places leaving gaping holes in the skin to reveal the dirty skull beneath. For once his top hat was absent and Anna tried to avoid looking directly at the insects and maggots that had taken to nesting among the roots of his hair, all squirming excitedly at every sudden move.

"You should have stayed in the other world with your new friends, Princess." he taunted swinging for her legs and cackling like a maniac when she leapt over the blow bringing her sword around for his head. A look of disbelief settled over her beautiful features as he brought the scythe up inhumanly fast and glanced the blow aside.

Before she could recover he sent her sprawling with a vicious backhand that made her ears ring and spots dance in front of her eyes. She cursed in Romanian bringing her sword to guard as she struggled to focus through her daze.

Her shield arm felt overly exposed where Gabriel should have been standing, where he'd always stood when they fought. The perfect team playing off each other to get the job done, together they were unstoppable. But alone…

The scythe came down again, cleaving the air above her head as she ducked under, landing a clean kick to his groin to no affect. The blow would have crippled any other man but this creature simply laughed louder, bloodlust shinning in his overly intelligent eyes.

"You keep running little Princess." he sang skipping from foot to foot dancing to the beat of the battle around them. "I have the perfect little hole for your body at my master's house only the best for royalty he said! Only the best."

Anna grunted as he matched her blows with the staff of the scythe, angling the blade so she was forced to leap back after every blow or risk impaling herself on the dirty metal. She didn't bat an eye as she was forced to roll again, dropping to the floor she pushed up with her shoulders and sprang to her feet driving her blade through the corpses back before he could turn and defend.

Too her surprise the undertaker sprang forward ripping the hilt of her sword from her sweat soaked hand leaving her defenceless.

The corpse's lips twisted into a grotesque grin baring rotted and crumbling teeth in her direction. The creature made a show of scrutinising her empty hands, shaking his head he clucked like a disapproving parent the point of her sword poking through his shirt.

"What do you intend to do now Anna?" he questioned advancing upon her.

Barely thirty zombies remained now, scattered among the remains of their fallen brethren they kept up their shambling attacks on the small band of friends. Sometime in the last few minutes Tony had found himself next to Jory as they both hunted down the still moving torsos that littered the ground and ended their misery with smooth decided strokes. Tony was bleeding from a small laceration above his right knee, the thin fabric of his peasant trousers staining crimson as he stood above the remains of an old man who glared up at him with glassy eyes, his teeth snapping pitifully to get at the boys skin.

"Do something other than groan!" Tony hissed in annoyance bringing his sword down hard on to the man's skull, chocking when he pulled the blade free from the mess.

Jory breathlessly dispatched his latest attacker with a swift kick and a brutal slash of his sword. He watched the corpse fall to the ground and breathed out in relief when another didn't immediately rush up to fill it's place. He doubled over to spit the foul taste of bile from his mouth and took a few steady breaths of the stinking air his legs cramping with exhaustion.

"How many you got Hongy?" he asked wincing at the crunch of bones as his friend finished with his latest assailant.

"Twenty…you?"

"Twenty one." Jory grinned.

"Bollocks!"

It was unsettling the way such butchery and carnage had lost it's effect as the battle progressed. It was a simple act now to coldly remove a head from a writhing body or step over the remains of a once pretty young farm girl whose upper body now lay several meters from the rest of her. They'd have time to dwell on what they'd done this night soon enough but for now everything they did was in the name of survival.

Now as the numbers of the zombies dwindled they could finally see everyone through the crowd. Sarah and Amie were standing in a ring of piled dead, sweat shinning on their foreheads in the orange light cast from the Inn.

Bob and Marston were closer to the building, still in motion against the few creatures that had overwhelmed them and gotten within a few feet of the villagers still huddled inside. It was hard to believe the ground they now stood on was once coated in a thick layer of snow, the pure white flakes had been trampled under foot as the fight began, now nothing but slush and trampled body parts.

As Tony finally dealt with the young corpse assaulting him and watched the body slump lifelessly to the floor the boys made there way back to their friends, neither glanced back to the darkness beneath the wood at their back so neither saw the light glancing off clean silver nor heard the rumble of many feet still a distance away as the second wave approached.

Amie and Sarah smiled as the boys joined them making easy work of the few remaining dead that surrounded them. Eventually they all separated going after the individual zombies that shambled in a confused daze towards the Inn doors.

Sarah paused to lean on her sword her legs aching and trembling beneath her as she watched her friends mercilessly hunt all the dead down. A chill wind nipped at the back of her neck and she turned to find Dracula looking over her with a troubled expression. She offered him a weak smile gesturing loosely towards the corpse strewn earth.

"Look…we won." she said wearily.

His face broke into a wry grin and he let out a throaty laugh that sounded odd to the girl after so long with nothing but screams and groans through out the silent night air. "Won? What have you won?"

She frowned as he circled her drawing her eyes to a place closer to the trees and suddenly he vanished and her mouth dropped in horror to see the undertaker facing Anna, the Princess was slowly backing up to the trees her eyes searching the ground for a weapon, any weapon to defend herself .

"Shit! Anna!"

All her weariness left her and she pulled her sword up to guard racing to the Princess's aid, her boots slipping and tripping over the gore strewn ground in her haste. As she drew close she saw the undertaker bring round the scythe once more, the blade swept for Anna's legs causing her to leap up reflexively but he was ready for this. In a flash the blade of the scythe changed direction and the staff caught the Princess full in the face throwing her with a sickening crunch through the air.

Her body impacted the ground with a dull thud skimming a few feet to lay still, a line of blood trickling from her nose to stain the few remaining white flacks that had thus far been untouched by the carnage.

With a guttural laugh the undertaker descended on his prey.

The blade flashed as it fell, it's momentum enough to cleave the helpless woman in half. Sarah cried out as she saw it descending. Throwing herself down, she slid beneath the blow her body shielding Anna's and her sword above her head braced for impact. When it came she gritted her teeth, thinking for a wild moment that her sword would break and she'd die there and then just when they were winning.

Her arms trembled as the corpse yelled out in fury putting all his inhuman strength behind the scythe. Any other person would have buckled, their strength giving out and their last breath stolen as the scythe cleaved through their skull. But she wasn't fully human the blood of the most powerful vampire in history still ran in her veins, lending her strength when she needed it most. She didn't understand what any of that meant, only that for once as she drew on all her reserves and sent the undertaker staggering away from her, she didn't hate what she was.

Breathlessly she staggered to her feet, her arms and legs felt like jelly, her sword a lead weight in her aching hands. She stepped forwards away from the still Princess glancing up in a daze to meet the undertakers hateful stare.

"You!" he hissed his eyes flashing dangerously.

"Me." she nodded the smirk turning into a wince of pain as her chest constricted suddenly.

She couldn't stand against him alone, she was too weak now. Foolishly using up the last of her strength just to buy herself a little time to save Anna. The undertaker watched her now, noticing the way her legs and sword trembled with fatigue, how her eyes were glassy and unfocused and he knew she was vulnerable.

His face split into a wide grin as he began spinning the scythe in his hands. Sarah's eyes widened in fear.

"Time to die girl!" he yelled charging towards her.

Sarah screamed as the undertaker rushed her, it was only luck that as she stumbled back, her foot caught on one of the already fallen bodies and she fell under his swing, the scythe cleaving the air dangerously close to her throat. She landed in a mass of limbs and filth, the snow covered in the congealing blood of the dead. Her hand landed on the skull of a young boy and she cried out at the fragile bones gave way plunging her fingers into the cold mess within.

Caught off balance by his miss the undertaker stumbled to the side and found himself face to face with a very pissed off princess. In one smooth move she darted around and ripped her sword free grinning as the familiar metal of the hilt encased her hand in a protective cage.

With all of her hatred for the dead man before her Anna brought her family sword around in a graceful arch, severing his arm at the elbow when he brought up the scythe to guard against the blow. The undertaker threw back his head and let out a high pitched scream uncomfortably human in the mass of unearthly grunts and howls still rising from the fallen corpses.

His pained gaze met the princess's, the intelligence in those eyes making her pause in her assault.

He used this opening to his advantage and fled to the safety of the trees as much a coward in death as he had been in life.

Sarah scrambled back to her feet cringing as she caught sight of the gore on her hands and clothes. Blood slick fingers grasped the handle of her katana trembling slightly.

Anna grasped her by the arm to keep her steady as she maintained her footing. Sarah flashed her a shaky smile. "Thanks." she whispered.

The Princess grinned "So does this make it the second time you've saved my life?" she enquired quietly.

Sarah looked thoughtful "I'm thinking maybe fourth but whose counting."

Quietly Princess and girl surveyed the battle field.

Limbs and bodies lay twitching in the slush, Anna counted only two corpses still standing which her friends were quickly dealing with.

Sarah watched in amazement as Amie hacked mercilessly at the shambling corpse of a middle aged woman. The brunette let out a cry of exhilaration when the corpse finally fell unmoving at her feet.

"Yeh!" Marston cheered, thumping the air in approval as she flashed him a wide grin. "Amie kicks ass!"

"That's my honey." Bob called proudly.

Sarah's chest heaved with weariness and she wavered on her feet, bending to rest her hands on her knees she spat out the coppery taste of blood from within her mouth, it was all she could do not to burst into relieved tears. Tony wandered over watching her with concern as she stood straight again.

She smiled at him shakily. "I need a bath." she whispered.

Tony looked at her seriously. "I've been meaning to mention that for the last few days." he said a dry grin stretching across his features.

Marston yelled cheerfully over the corpses "Did you see me! I ripped his heart out Indiana Jones style!" He hooted searching the corpse ridden ground for the organ just too prove it.

Sarah knelt to examine the body of a youth his head almost intact among the remains of his body, she sighed loudly "You know this one would have been kinda cute…if…you know he wasn't dead and in bits."

Jory burst out laugh "You really have a thing for corpses!"

"Eww no! Corpses freak me out you know that!" She exclaimed looking pleadingly at Amie who just grinned back.

"Sarah wants to fondle a dead guy!" Jory yelled skipping out of range when she went to hit him.

"That is sick and wrong!"

Amie hung on to Bob her arms round his waist and her head buried in the crook of his shoulder breathing in his smell to block out the almost overwhelming stench of death around her. "Can we go inside now?" she asked her voce muffled against his skin.

Marston looked longingly towards the smoke rising from the chimney of the Inn suddenly noticing how damp and bitterly could his clothes were. He wrapped his arms around himself the filthy blade of his sword smearing his dark trousers and boots with more gore so that he could hardly remember their original colours, for all he knew under all that mud and blood he was wearing brightly checked tweed.

"So think we'll get free drinks for this?" he asked hopefully. "I don't know about you lot but I intended to get well and truly rat-arsed."

Tony grinned at him glancing at Anna. The Princess was staring hard at the corpses under their feet her face a mask of concern rather than the happy smile of a victor at the prospect of drink and maybe a hot meal.

She caught his eye after a moment and gestured to the remains. "What do you notice about the weapons?" she asked guardedly.

Tony glanced down nudging a torn off tree branch with his foot, still clutched in the death grip of the decapitated corpse who'd been using it as a club.

"Their crappy?" Jory asked grinning at his friend.

"Their primitive." Anna snapped her eyes dark.

"So?" Bob asked hugging Amie closer for warmth. "Their zombies their not exactly gonna be armed to the teeth."

Tony frowned "But they were before…Carl showed us the weapons from Vaseria, they were Van Helsing types. Blow guns the lot."

Sarah nodded "So we have to wonder why these lot didn't have that kinda weaponry…not that I want them to be super armed blow gun carrying zombies."

Jory shivered glaring around at them all "Ok can we just say that their dead and we can talk about the weapons thing tomorrow when it's warmer, lighter and we're all hung-over."

The teens turned to Anna for permission and she took in their gore stained clothes and hair, the way they were trembling partly from cold and fatigue and her resolve broke. She sighed wearily glancing back across the body littered ground for a moment and then towards the distant Inn.

"Jory's right we need rest." she looked down at the body at her feet. "They'll still be here tomorrow."

"Hell yes!" Marston crowed leading the way towards the Inn. "We kicked zombie arse!"

Anna smiled though she lingered as they walked away, sure that they were a decent distance away she turned and headed for the trees determined to see if their were any lingering traces of the undertaker. As she drew closer she became aware of a rhythmic thudding noise, the sound of something large crashing through foliage. Then through the dark tree something metal glinted in the light.

Tony swore as his leg began to sting the gash above his knee had stopped bleeding but looked an angry red around the edge.

"Does this look infected to you?" he asked looking up to see that his friends were too busy in their own conversations to hear him. Grumbling under his breath he turned to ask Anna, startled to find the Princess absent.

He quickly scanned the area relived to see her standing at the edge of the trees, he was about to turn back to his friends when he saw the Princess straighten up alert suddenly her sword free and in her hand as she started running back towards them.

"What the fu?"

Sarah appeared beside him her face pale, her eyes unnaturally wide the pupil dwarfing the iris so they seemed to be pure black.

"There's something in the trees." she whispered.

Suddenly something silver passed between them it caught Sarah's hair sending the blond locks whipping back, several strands pulled from close to her scalp.

She cried out and they both leapt to the side staring down at the silver dart sticking into the earth behind them.

Tony spun to look back at the trees hearing his friends hurrying up behind him.

Perspiration rolled down his face shinning in the light cast by the single lantern outside the inn, the shadows it cast made the trees look like a living black mass until flashes of reflected light caught his eye. At first he ignored it, thinking it to be the light on his friend's swords and daggers flashing briefly in the dark but then a cry sounded through the darkness to his right, Anna ran towards him yelling a warning.

"They have blades! The dead are armed." the princess yelled.

Note: ok like I said my muse is way over with the Bad wolf Dr who thing so if this chapter seems a lil off v.sorry.

Review review it's like my chocolate! 


	21. Desperate measures

Note: Ok well this is gonna be a really long one so hope I don't bore you by the end but I wanted to finish up the fighting in this chapter so I could move on for the next. I think three chapters of fight is enough if not already pushing it.

JeanieBeanie: Call me crazy but big battle always leads me to lord of the rings lol which appears in this one too btw :D Jory's a fan

Fortune Zyne: lol I love your lil exclamations few words saying so so much :D

Christine Marquez: So you read the last one during a thunder storm? that's cool cuz im writing this chapter during one lol lil bit disturbing but adds to the atmosphere.

Oh by the way Blessed Litha to any wiccans reading this and happy summer solstice to the rest of you :D

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 21

Marston and Bob froze as they heard Anna's warning. They traded a concerned glance before in an unvoiced decision they parted company. The threat of the lesser dead they had just faced, was that they might over whelm the defenders with sheer numbers but weapons meant something else something they'd all begun to note about each zombie they had faced.

The ones more decayed who had been dead at least months before their resurrection, were slow and dim-witted, fragile creatures their blades carved through like soft cheese. But every few moments they had encountered a recent dead, someone with intelligent eyes who knew to dodge and counter a blow from a sword or fist, someone eerily coherent when they screamed as the blade finally found them.

They were the only ones capable of bearing blades.

"But we'd won!" Amie cried hysterically as the new wave broke the tree line crashing on to the battle field and crushing the remains of their predecessors into the mud. The night became alive again with the incoherent shouts and screams that was their battle cry.

"It's the second wave!" Anna yelled. She turned as she reached the teens and faced the advancing forces.

The teens spread out behind her their palms slick with dried blood and sweat as they gripped their weapons with trembling hands. It seemed impossible to them that they had just survived one battle bloody and exhausted only to be plunged into another, facing opponents who were fresh and fully rested armed to the teeth and craving blood.

They stood in silence watching the wave of death approach their hearts pounding their breath stolen by the wind.

Amie shot the distant silhouette of the Inn a longing glance before she squared her shoulders and forced herself to stop trembling.

"Ave Caesar, morituri te saluting." Sarah whispered suddenly.

Jory glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, she shrugged at his questioning gaze. "It's what the Gladiators used to say before they went into the arena."

"A prayer?"

"Not exactly."

"So what does it mean?"

She gave him a wry smile and turned shifting her feet into a guard stance and bringing her sword up the small tiger carved in the blade caught the light seeming to come to life for an instant.

"Hail Caesar, those about to die salute you."

"Sorry I asked."

It was then that darts began to rain upon them like arrows from the darkness.

They scattered to present harder targets, weaving as they ran, sliding in the mud and gore to roll and change direction. Once or twice Marston brought his sword up on instinct and felt the satisfying impact as it turned a shot aside, more from luck than any skill he possessed. He heard a cry and spun to see Jory looking shocked at a dart hanging from the loose sleeve of his dirty shirt, having struck the fabric millimetres below his skin. The boy tore it out of the cloth and dropped it to the earth as if the silver itself burnt him.

"We have to take out the ones with the dart guns!" he yelled urgently before he was engulfed in a wave of animated corpses.

The undertaker crouched in the trees his left hand covering the stump of his right arm. He took time to regain his strength and re-establish his connection with his master after the shock had driven his subtle presence away from his mind. His beady eyes watched the battle and his mouth split into an impossible grin when he saw the Princess forced to throw herself to the ground to avoid the wild shots of the undead. The stump of his arm twitched as she regained her feet flipping up taking the head of the nearest zombie with her. He itched to take his revenge on the arrogant woman, but for the moment he was forced to watch his brothers in arms cut down before him and admire the determination of the people he faced.

Sarah spun ready for the next opponent, her eyes wide and almost madly eager, a kind of shadowed bloodlust racing through her body. Somewhere unseen Dracula looked on in furious pride watching as the human girl touched the line, crossing ever so slightly into a darker place beyond it. Just enough darkness to keep her from flinching as she cut them down, just enough that she wouldn't remember faces or the cries of the creatures she and her companions ruthlessly slaughtered.

In the night he could imagine her as she'd been. The beautiful feral bride he'd turned her into, her sword and dagger were her claws and teeth her clothes her wings as she fought, and indeed seemed to fly as she leapt atop a dead man pinning him to the floor and scalping him, turning away without a second glance.

Yes, he could believe there was a deep dark pit inside of that girl…at least until he looked closer and saw the fear in her eyes, the anguish when she heard one of her friends cry out and paused just long enough in her frenzy to glance their way and reassure herself that they were alright. It was the boy this time, Marston. She was yelling to him now concern giving way to a brief grin as his brought his hand too his forehead tipping an invisible hat in her direction before resuming his battle.

What ever vampire was left within him stirred and a dull growl escaped his phantom lips, his gaze surveyed the battle alighting on each of her friend's in turn. They were the reason he was as he was, the reason his bride had chosen death over him twice over. She'd given up an eternity with him for one short lifetime with them.

The one called Marston was running now, he smoothly intercepted one creature heading for the Asian boy, cutting it down before it's sword managed to bite into his friend's exposed back. Few words passed between them, merely a nod and then they fought on, back to back, shield mates in an overwhelming army.

To the Count's eyes the world shifted. The shadows of the night glowed red in a distant sunset, the zombies morphed into winged Gargoyles taking to the sky and circling the young boys who stood back to back eyes on the creatures above them.

Blond and dark hair grew longer, hanging damp with sweat to armour clad shoulders. shields appeared in unwavering hands the red cross of the holy order barely visible under the fresh blood already coating the enamel surfaces.

Dracula watched as his memories played out before him, where Marston and Tony fought he and Gabriel fought back to back, brothers in arms and then as suddenly as it had begun it was gone. Darkness once again wrapped the scene in shadows and the two teens separated drawn away to help where they could or prevent any of their foes getting too close to the Inn.

As if sensing the sudden wave of emotion stirring within him the chains of the Necromancer tightened around him, making him gasp as his form faded to nothing for a few terrifying moments before he once again found himself standing beneath the trees the battlefield before him. With a snarl he resumed his guard.

Jory grinned at the approaching zombie "So you just pulled the heart out?" he called to Marston who was running past him. His friend grunted nodding as his blade met that of the creature who was heading for Tony's exposed back.

Jory grinned manically he feinted to the left drawing the creatures attention. He brought his blade up in a high stroke to provoke a response. He gave a manic yell when the corpse predictably raised it's arms to ward off the strike leaving it's bare and rotting chest exposed.

With all the strength he could muster, Jory dove his gore soaked hand into a gap he could already see between the rib cage. His fingers pushed deep and suddenly he couldn't move, frowning he tried to push forwards but found that his hand couldn't go farther in.

"What the fuck?" he muttered in confusion.

He glanced up to find the corpse watching him in almost comically wide eyed shock, it's hands locked above its head by the unnatural expansion of its rib cage.

Deciding to abort his game Jory tried to pull his hand back out again, the zombie was forced closer by this new pressure but to Jory's mounting horror the rib cage itself had constricted around his wrist.

"Oh shit! No way!"

His wild yells and actions were beginning to attract attention from the other corpses as he stumbled awkwardly through the carnage, staggering over the limbs and dismembered bodies that already littered the ground. His free hand still wielded the sword and he began hacking at the creature, depriving it of it's arms and weapons in a frenzy of a trapped animal.

Finally his foot landed uncertainly on the slippery ground and he found himself falling back to land heavily on his back. His sword flew from his grip to land just out of reach and the weight of the creature he was still trapped under, crushed his chest making him gasp slightly winded.

Out of the corner of her eye Sarah saw him go down.

"Jory!"

She glanced around quickly for help flinching as a stray dart whistled past her ear picking up tendrils of hair as it missed. Her eyes found the culprit, a figure draped in the dark tatters of a once fine funeral suit the silver delivery tube already reloaded and rising slowly to the blue lips as it prepared for another shot.

"Sarah duck!"

She didn't think as she obeyed. Throwing herself to the ground she tucked and rolled back on her feet turning in time to see a flash of silver as Marston's dagger hurtled towards the zombie slamming right between it's eyes and exploding the fragile skull. The delivery tube fell from startled hands before the dart was released.

Sarah gave Marston a wave of thanks looking around frantically as she spotted Jory still struggling to release himself from under his fallen corpse. He was so intent in this that he didn't notice the other corpse approaching from behind him, its eager face staring at his vulnerable skull and an evil looking machete in its hands ready to strike.

Jory grimaced at the sickening crack that sounded in the body above him. Splinters of bone broke off from the ribs constricting his hands, sharp against his skin as with a triumphant yell, he tore his hand free. Though he was disappointed to note that the creatures heart had stayed within the chest cavity.

His neck ached from the odd angle he'd landed at and he gritted his teeth against the pain as he tried to heave the now inactive corpse off his torso.

Suddenly a new figure appeared in his line of sight stepping calmly and eagerly up so that its disgustingly elongated and soiled toe nails scratched at the crown of his head. Jory's panicked mind darted wildly from image to image likening his situation to that of Gimli the Dwarf, Lord of the Rings the Two Towers, Gimli trapped beneath the corpse of a great hyena type dog while another crept over intent on eating him.

He doubted that he'd be able to just reach out and snap this creatures neck as Gimli had done. Oh wel,l at least he wouldn't have to put up with the smell of the corpses for much longer, he reasoned as the new threat brought it's blade to bare.

His chest heaved as he fought to draw in air, panic making his throat close and his lungs constrict as the rusty tip of the machete lined itself up with the bridge of his nose.

Within seconds another shadow joined that of his attacker and Jory just managed to catch sight of a wisp of blonde hair before the corpse above him stiffened, it's eyes wide with shock, the blade falling from it's fingers.

Sarah ran up behind Jory's attacker. Without a thought she jumped, angled the blade of her sword down and plunged it in the hollow at the base of the skull where the spine and the skull connect, severing it. The tip of her sword drove it's way all the way through with such force that Jory had to turn his head swiftly to avoid the tip as it broke through the other side showering him with gore and bone fragments.

The zombie didn't utter a sound as it crumpled like a rag doll finally free in it's second and final death.

Sarah yanked the sword out grimacing in disgust as it slid free with a sickening crunch and sucking sound.

Jory stared at her gob-smacked. "Thanx." he said finally when she helped him remove the first corpse and handed him his sword slick with mud and something he'd rather not identify.

Sarah shrugged breathlessly, her cheeks flushed with shock at her own spontaneous actions. "Call it my apology for…you know…drinking your blood last year."

Jory laughed shakily. "You could have just made me a card."

They turned towards the tree line picking out their friends amid the chaos of the fighting. There were more shapes in the trees waiting to come out, flashes of metal clearer in the places where the branches were thinnest. They'd barely scratched the surface of the zombie hordes pushing their way towards the Inn intent on whatever orders their illusive master had given them.

"You know what Sarah?" Jory said quietly glancing at her his voice quivering slightly. "I think we're losing."

She swallowed hard taking account of her weaknesses, the spiking pain in her chest where she'd received a hit from a thick branch the ach of her left arm where her horse had kicked her the fresh burning and warm blood in her palm from Carl's "necessary" blood letting. Coupled with exhaustion and the stitch crippling her right side she couldn't go one fighting like this.

"We're not gonna lose." she panted trying to sound confident though her hands shook now as she brought her sword up once more. Of course it was at exactly that moment when the fresh line broke though the trees and the air became think with shouts and Amie's scream of shock as they rushed inhumanly fast into the already desperate fray.

Without another thought for her own exhaustion, Sarah rushed forwards throwing herself back into the fight, Jory yelling out a war cry at her side. As they fought she caught sight of her friend's and saw the doubts in their eyes. There were too many of them coming too fast. Right now they needed a miracle.

Tony gritted his teeth as he punched the nearest man and pulled his hand back with the knuckles torn and bloody where they had unrepentantly connected with nothing but solid bone.

"Do you think Carl can invent a rocket launcher next time we do this?" he grunted trying to ignore the pain.

Amie ignored him, spinning around in time to duck a blow from a woodsman's axe. The adrenaline rushing through her body didn't let her dwell on the rush of air past her ear that signalled another blow from the unseen opponent to her right that she'd only managed to avoid purely by luck. She was stretched too thin, not used to battle nor the strain it was putting on her body her arms were numb so she didn't feel the blow that didn't miss, thankfully oblivious to the warm line of blood rushing from the gash to her upper arm.

Her eyes looked out for threats to herself and threats to her friend's. Bob was at her side holding off the circle of enemies that had begun to close around them. Marston had long since fought his way through that undead wall to reach them, standing now at her back while Tony worked frantically to keep his sword arm from being attacked whilst exposed.

They'd formed the rough circle on instinct an echo of the year before when they'd faced Sarah lurking in the dark of castle Dracula.

They'd lost sight of Anna minutes before when the fresh wave of corpses descended upon them without warning. Irrelevantly somewhere in the calm that was her mind she was glad she'd changed into riding trousers before they came to the Inn, glad that the matching top didn't restrict her movements with her swords, glad that the boots were comfortable.

It was madness, the thoughts of a person teetering on the edge of sanity. If she had time she could pretend she was shopping, deciding which pair of boots she could run in and which would stain from zombie blood.

"Jory you're a legend!" Marston yelled suddenly, bringing her back to reality away from her dangerous dreams.

To her surprise she found the enemy temporarily swept back, the ones still able to fight trapped under the bodies of those that had fallen. She glanced around in confusion as someone gave her shoulder a squeeze and her eyes focused on a very pale and breathless blond standing grinning with exhaustion beside her.

"Trust you lot to go do a roman shield circle!" she was exclaiming breathlessly.

"That's what happens when you shove a history buff in a battle." Marston answered beaming.

The zombies had been taken by surprise when Sarah and Jory ploughed through them throwing the inanimate corpses of their brethren into the chaotic and mindless horde pinning those nearest to the centre of the circle to the ground and preventing the other lines getting passed.

"Anna's up near the trees cutting the zombies down as their coming through but the ones that get past are just ignoring her!" Jory explained turning back to face the corpses around them.

"I wish they'd make up their mind!" Tony spat "Us or the Princess why not just go for both!"

"Don't give them any idea's Hongy." Bob spat "We want Anna able to come rescue us, not dead and zombiefied!" 

Amie began to panic slightly as the circle closed in again, the friend's backing up until they touched on all sides, eyes watching for where the first assault would come from. Her arm began to sting and she let out a tearful cry as she saw the white sleeve of her gypsy top dark with her own blood.

"We can't keep this up!" Marston called from somewhere behind her.

Amie's eyes darted to Bob's and noticed his hand shaking on his sword, fear in his eyes and another wave of blind panic seized her. They needed a plan, they needed something or they weren't going to survive this. 

"Sarah do something!" she called out desperately as the first attacker managed to get to it's feet and rush forwards, others not far behind.

Sarah slammed her sword up through the first zombies jaw and up into it's head mercilessly ripping it out and allowing the corpse to fall at her feet. "Why me!" she called in confusion.

"Because!" she shrieked back tears flowing freely from her eyes.

Tony appeared beside her catching Sarah's eye as he helped her fend off the more immediate threats.

"Think about it! We're fighting zombies! The Necromancer guys a sorcerer or something right, so fight fire with fire!"

"You're a witch! Cast a spell!" Bob yelled angrily, his eyes widened as he heard himself say it and he shrugged at Marston's bewildered stare. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

"I thought you didn't believe in that." Sarah countered breathlessly as she leapt back to avoid a flying knife which Jory refracted impressively off his own blade sending it hurtling back into the throng of corpses.

"I didn't believe in vampire's last year!" he yelled back breathlessly. "I didn't believe in other dimensions…zombies…Necromancers who can control the dead!" He pushed back against his latest attacker driving his blade through its chest and ripping it up to server the spine. As the body dropped he turned to look at her, his eyes wild and earnest. "Reality doesn't give a fuck what I believe."

Sarah glanced around thinking quickly, they needed a shield something evil couldn't pass through, something these creatures of black sorcery couldn't pass through. She stopped suddenly peering closely at their formation and realised they were in a perfect circle, the answer was all around her.

"A circle of protection might push them back and keep them off till dawn but I'd have to be inside the inn to do one big enough!"

"So go! It's time to cash in on that Wiccan pyramid scheme!" Marston grunted matching his blade with a highly skilled corpse of a teenage boy.

"I can't leave you all fighting like this!"

Jory used his free hand to push her behind him his face unusually focused as he glared at her "For fuck sake Sarah go!"

Sarah looked around at them all, they must be desperate to believe in her like this, she wasn't even sure if it would work if she could summon that much energy. Suddenly she spotted a shadow to her right Dracula was there, his arm out and pointing between two of the advancing creatures, she squinted trying to make out what he was telling her and spotted the light from the Inn entering the circle there.

That was the weak point, if she was going to do this that was her way out.

"Tony cover me!" she called bringing her sword up.

"This isn't a Mexican shoot out woman!" the boy replied in annoyance even as he fell back to stand at her side.

He didn't spot the weak point until they were almost on top of it, but when he spied the dark building of the Inn silhouetted by lantern light he whooped and his blows took on a new strength and vigour she didn't know he possessed. Before she knew what had happened he'd grabbed her hand and pulled her through scattering the perfect circle and leaving a wake of severed limbs and unmoving corpses.

Sarah grinned at him as they ran for it Tony practically dragging her by the hand in his eagerness to get to the inn. Their friends following slower trying to keep the horde back. The two or three stragglers that had actually gotten as far as the Inn were cut down under Sarah and Tony's blades.

Within sight of the door Tony let go of her hand and spun around to catch the head off the closest pursuing enemy. The corpse had been of an elderly woman and it slumped wetly to the slush covered earth with a sound that was all too common to the teens.

Sarah took in the battle field once more noting, with relief, Anna's position as the Princess hurried back down to them from the almost over whelmed tree coverage to stand by Amie's side while the girl hurriedly filled her in on what they had planned.

Tony looked imploringly at her his eyes wide and hopeful without a trace of sarcasm. "You really believe you can do this?" he asked breathlessly.

She nodded, her lower lip trembling her head full of self doubt. Could she do this?

His face broke into a wide grin "Go on then and you realize if this works…I'll still take the piss don't you."

She made to reply but instead cried out a warning as one of the corpses at their feet leapt up suddenly.

Tony yelled in surprise as clammy skin gripped his arms pulling them painfully around. His sword fell from his grip disappearing amid the corpses that were unable to rise from the floor but still had enough power to hide the weapon.

Sarah tossed him her own sword relived when he caught it effortlessly turning the blade and angling it beneath his arm, with a quick thrust he plunged it into the corpse and dragged it up cutting across it's chest until it lay in two halves by his feet.

He turned breathlessly to Sarah holding up the sword. "Mind if I borrow this for a bit?"

"I won't need it."

Marston's voice cut through the battle to them "Would you two stop talking and get going!"

Tony grinned at her before sprinting off to rejoin the fight, Sarah's blade held tightly in his hands.

Sarah headed towards the inn at a sprint as several of the nearest zombies noticed she was unarmed but for the small silver dagger in her gore coated hand.

"Keep pushing them back!" she ordered over her shoulder as she ran. "But stay as close to the inn as you can!"

She cried out as one bold corpse staggered for her, his arms outstretched and diving towards her throat. Before she could react something warm collided with her back and she was forced passed her attacker closer to the elusive Inn door.

Marston grunted at the impact barely having time to flash her a cheeky grin before the zombie got over the shock of losing easy prey.

With a final burst of speed Sarah made it to the comforting wood of the Inn door.

Carl jumped in shock when a furious banging began on the door. Several of the villagers drew back nervously, some of the braver men rushing forwards to brace the furniture in front of the door.

"Wait, wait it could be my friends!" Carl yelled pushing through them . "Anna! Anna is that you?"

"Carl! Carl it's Sarah you have to let me in!"

"Sarah? How do I know it's really you."

A yelp and an exasperated growl sounded beyond the wood. "Carl! Ok you want proof…err…your first field assignment with Van Helsing you tracked down Mr Hyde! Van Helsing dressed you up like a woman…"

"Alright, alright!" Carl exclaimed his cheeks burning as he pulled at the tables and chairs that made up the door barricade. Sarah rushed through barrelling into the startled friar and dragging them both to the floor.

"Oh my God!" He cried when he helped her up and found his hands slick with clotting blood. "You're hurt!"

Sarah blinked scrambling to her feet. "It's ok it's not mine." she assured him quickly turning to glance back out of the door. She heard her friends yelling at each other in the darkness, heard the cries of the zombies and the clash of the swords. What the hell was she doing? She should be out there with them.

Carl was staring at her worriedly. "What's happening ? What's going on?"

She turned to meet his eyes and caught sight of the villagers beyond him, waiting terrified for news of triumph or failure.

'I should be out there.' she thought desperately. Without a word to the concerned Friar she spun to face the door again, ready to rush out, to reclaim her sword from Tony and slice hell into the bastards who dared to threaten her friends.

She froze her face inches from Dracula's. "You can't help them out there." he whispered huskily. Breathing hard she tried to step around him, unwilling to rush through his spectral body.

"Stay." he pleaded. "If you go out there to fight with them you die with them. Do what you came to do my dear."

Gritting her teeth and praying for a miracle she turned to scan the room for tools. "Athame, Athame…Carl I need an athame!"

The Friar blinked in confusion. "You need a what?"

"An athame! A dagger." she hissed impatiently.

The villagers scrambled out of her way as she rushed to the bar, hoping to discover a dagger or sword mounted behind it for decoration.

Carl hurriedly rummaged through his robes and brought out a small dagger in a leather sheath. "Will this do?"

Sarah turned wiping filthy hand across her face, smearing it with dirt and dead blood unknowingly. Carl tensed as she rushed towards him, her blood smeared face and dishevelled hair all to close to his memories of her vampiric form.

He flinched as she seized the dagger unsheathing it and scrutinising the blade closely.

She looked at the Friar in desperation as the sounds of battle echoed around them "Carl this is important, has any blood ever touched this?"

Carl blinked thrown by the question. "N…no but…"

"You've never pricked yourself accidentally? Cuz if bloods ever touched this its useless to me!" she asked earnestly

"It's clean I've only had it for a month."

Sarah almost sagged with relief, she had an athame. It couldn't be just any knife the energy it channelled would become useless and tainted if the blade had tasted blood, any blood.

"What are you going to do?" Carl asked fearfully.

She grinned at him "Weave a little bit of Wiccan magic…I need you to believe in what I'm doing Carl." she added when his face clouded. "Whatever you think, just believe I'm doing something to help."

The Friar seemed to battle for a moment before a screech sounded close to the inn. "What else do you need?" he asked hurriedly.

Sarah smiled with relief. "Get Anna and everyone as close to the inn as you can and make sure the zombies are at least 10 meters back from it, can you do that?"

The Friar smiled, reaching into one of the oversized pockets of his habit he pulled out a small vial "I have the perfect thing. Glycerine 48" he announced holding up the explosive liquid.

The girl laughed aloud giving the trembling Friar a quick hug.

"All I need is time you'll know if it worked or not." she called as he steeled himself and darted out of the Inn his habit flapping behind him in the sudden bitter wind.

Sarah glanced fearfully round at the village people disturbingly aware that she was about to give them a great excuse to use her as kindling for the fire.

The Inn keeper stood at the edge of the crowd pointing a shaky finger at her.  
"See how she sends the holy man to fight! She is an agent of the devil!" he shrieked hysterically.

Sarah turned on him in fury losing all of her patience. "Look whatever I was, am or will become, means fuck all right now! If you don't leave me to do this then the dead will get in and you'll all be joining them! Do you really think I'd do anything to hurt the people care about! Their out there fighting for you and that is where I would rather be only I have to try to save them the best way I know how and to do that I need you to shut the hell up!"

She turned her back on him furiously and took off her pentagram necklace tying it around the blade's hilt to lend it power. A loud crash and thud sounded behind her and she whirled around in shock to see the inn keeper sprawled unconscious on the dirt floor, the broken chair leg he had tried to attack her with still in his limp grasp. Shaken she looked up and her eyes met the same burly villager with the dark hair who had first threatened Carl at their table what seemed like a life time ago.

"Thank you." she whispered shakily.

They both jumped as loud explosions began to sound outside accompanied by flashes and alarmed shouts. "What do you need?" he asked quickly.

"Space, stay as far back as you can. I need it to be quiet." she said shakily. She slipped the leather thong with her green pentagram disk from around her neck and bound it around the hilt of the dagger. 'I can do this' she told herself.

Carl rushed outside with the small bottle in his grasp. "Where is Van Helsing when you need him!" he muttered madly, rushing headlong towards the edge of the forest where his friend's were hacking their way through the corpses. "I should have stayed in Rome!"

Jory cleaved the head of a vicious looking peasant from its body, the dirt encrusted and peeling face held an expression of complete surprise as it sailed though the air.

He watched in morbid fascination as the body stood twitching for a moment, the ragged tatters of it's woollen breeches and tattered shirt still stained darkly from the gaping wound where the torso had been mauled by wolves in life.

With some of the zombies the cause of death was apparent, he mused as the body teetered almost comically to the side and lay still.

He heard a wild screech behind him and whirled around to see three more corpses rushing towards him, these were the ones that seemed almost alive still, the ones where you couldn't see what had killed them. Disease? Poison? Whether it was murder or nature that took the lives of these people one un-natural master had brought them back.

The oldest of the three, a man in his mid-forties bent swiftly to retrieve the dispatched man's menacing machete from the gore soaked ground. He straightened, wielding it like a sword before him and delivering a wild swing that came just short of sending Jory's head to meet the one he had just relieved of its body.

"What happened to the moaning - shuffling -night -of -the -living- dead zombies!" he yelled in frustration.

Marston was a few feet away facing his own battles. "Die you god damn son of a bitch from hell!" He spat at the young woman who was trying rather embarrassingly to bite him. He drove his sword mercilessly into the greying flesh of the torso. With a forceful tug he dragged it up and through the body.

The woman froze, her mouth open in surprise. She uttered a strangled cry as her upper body split cleanly down the middle falling like the peeled skin of a banana to sag either side of her hips. Marston fought the urge to vomit as the animated corpse slumped wetly to the mud. He had little time to get himself back together before the other zombies were upon him.

Adrenaline leant Jory's exhausted limbs false strength as he met the new threat head on, distantly he heard Amie cry out and then mercilessly slaughter the zombie that had slashed her arm with his knife, tearing the pretty gypsy top she had become so fond of. Her furious profanities made the boy laugh aloud at the absurdity of her outrage.

"I liked that top!" she was screaming, hacking wildly into the mass of pale attackers sending limbs flying in all directions. "It…had…lace…sleeves!"

Bob's voice echoed from somewhere to his left. "I'll get you a new one honey!" he promised panting, using the hilt of his sword to break an on coming attackers nose. The man had been a farmer in life, his skin hung in tatters from his torso and back exposing deep furrows and teeth marks, remnants of his last moments of agonizing life. Bob felt a sense of elation as fragments of bone entered the creatures brain and it fell sprawling to the floor.

He yelled in triumph giving the corpse a savage kick for good measure.

Anna whirled gracefully next to him, decapitating two corpses at once in one fluid motion. She gave Bob a smile. It was as though they'd all been given new life after sending Sarah into the inn, they had something to work for now were fighting for time so that she might come up with a miracle to save them. If they didn't believe in magic or witch craft it was clear that they believed in her.

Tony's voice echoed across the battle "Just don't break your leg this time Bob." he called in breathless amusement, going blade to blade with the rusty machete of an elderly woman.  
Banter flew between them all, each answer to a remark or pointless comment reassuring them that they weren't alone even if they couldn't see their friends and more importantly, it was a sound off. They all knew that if one didn't answer that person would be seriously hurt or worse.

It was nervous and gut retching game.

Each delayed response made the waiting teens gasp in fear, choking on heartfelt agony as the seconds ticked on until a weary response echoed to them and then the game would begin anew.

The dangerous aspect to this game was it diverted them from the battle, it was a weakness that sapped their concentration and left them vulnerable.

Jory leapt back towards the edge of the forest in shock as a young woman grabbed at his clothes from behind, tearing the hem of his baggy peasant shirt to shreds. He swore as his back hit the tree and whirled when he heard the groans and cackles of the dead still advancing from the forest.

At least a dozen shadows darted towards him from the trees. The woman had been driving him to the forest all along and he'd thoughtlessly dashed straight for it.

Jory realised his mistake too late as one of the zombie woman, bearing what looked suspiciously like werewolf claw marks all over her body, hit him with a large branch jarring his head on his neck and splitting his cheek and lip open upon the brutal impact. He fell to the floor with a sharp cry, brilliant flashes of red shooting across his vision. He'd been too focused on his friends and allowed himself to get distracted and now it could cost him his life.

Dazed he saw the dead approach, their weapons raised and posed to strike the final blow. The cackling laugh of the undertaker rose terrifyingly close from the dark trees.

From somewhere far away Amie screamed out his name and Tony called desperately for him to get to his feet.

He struggled to obey his friend, fighting the sickening pain in his skull he rolled on to his side, dragging him self away from the advancing figures. Warm blood seeped into his mouth coppery on his tongue and a stinging, dulled by adrenaline, began from the small gash on his cheek where the skin had split upon the bone. He gasped out in hope as he saw a figure running towards him from the inn clad in the brown habit of a friar.

Carl extracted a small drop of Glycerine 48 from the bottle and with an expert flick of his wrist sent it flying. It shot like a small spark above Jory's bloodied head and impacted the ground at his attackers feet.

A large ball of fire exploded into life with a tremendous flash and a bang.

Jory was thrown back to the ground by the rush of heat, he lay still, wondering absently if he still had eyebrows.

The three corpses dropped their weapons in the force of the blast and were hurled backwards into their fellows behind them.

Carl watched in satisfaction as they flailed and fell into each other, their paper like skin going up in flames like so much tissue paper.

"A work of certifiable genius." he muttered grinning.

The undertaker wasn't laughing now.

From the shadows of the trees he watched the Friar rush along the lines of the dead, pulling the teens back and hurling great balls of fire at the corpses, driving them back all too easily as they scrambled to avoid the flames.

The Princess appeared suddenly at his side, taking her share of the liquid she aided him as the teens dragged their wounded friend back to the inn walls.

Amie stumbled next to her boyfriend terrified tears stinging her eyes as he cut through the nearest corpse and grabbed her arm pulling her close to his side. Bob glanced at her in concern as he heard her shallow breathing and felt the way she clung to him, her sword limp in her hand as she began to panic. She cried out fighting for breath as he moved swiftly with her, refusing to let go as the corpses amassed around them and he was forced to defend them both from the onslaught, she sobbed as she saw Jory lying dazed and bleeding against the Inn wall.

Bob leapt back gratefully with her when Marston, Tony and Anna appeared in front of him pushing the corpses back. Carl Helped him half drag half carry Amie into the shadow of the building.

"She's having a panic attack." he explained to the terrified Friar. "I can handle it…go to Jory." Sliding down the wall he engulfed Amie in his arms pulling her as close as he dared without hurting her, his head against her's pressing their chests together, heedless of the sodden ground he knelt on. Her panic attack was more pronounced now as she struggled to draw breath, gasping and sobbing erratically into his filthy sweat soaked shirt.

"Shhh…it's ok breathe with me." he whispered drawing in exaggerated breaths allowing his chest to move against hers in a calming rhythm.

Carl looked over from where he sat with Jory relived to see her begin to calm down her chest rising and falling with Bob's as they breathed together his arms tightly around her shielding her from the fight they were losing.

No more banter passed between the group as they fell back, retreating behind the curtain of fire Anna lay expertly in their wake.

The undertaker allowed a sadistic grin to slip back on to his features. Stepping clear of the trees, he walked calmly out on to the open ground stepping over the body parts and burning husks of his defeated militia. Fireworks would not drive them back forever.

Sarah trembled as she passed the dagger's blade over the single candle flame consecrating it. The cool disk of her pentagram necklace tapped gently against her wrist as she made her way to the centre of the large room and held the blade against her chest.

The villagers watched her from around the edge of the room utterly silent. The inn keeper, bound and gagged, slumped unconscious in one of the few remaining chairs.

Sarah took some deep breaths, she glanced around at the fearful and expectant gazes of the villagers.

"Ok…no pressure." she whispered to herself. More loud bangs sounded outside, if she was ever going to do this she had to do it now.

Dracula leant casually against the mantle watching both her and the battle outside, he flashed her a wicked grin "I have the utmost confidence in you my dear, but might I suggest you hurry along a little bit, I'm afraid your friend Jory is looking a little bit worse for wear."

Her heart seized with panic and worry. 'Jory's hurt!…how badly?…could he die?…were the others helping him?' she shook her head to clear it of questions taking deep cleansing breaths. If he was hurt she was doing the only thing she could to help him and to do it right she must forget about him.

With each breath she let part of her self drift away.

Her fear was gone, her worry, her anger, her sorrow…it all fell away.

Her shoulders sagged as the tension left them, her grip on the dagger became feather light. She felt nothing, heard nothing it was all in another place now. Silently she sent out all call in her mind to those who cared for her and the people here, to the guides that had followed and watched over her, her entire life.

She didn't see Dracula glance sharply at her but instead she began to feel a warm breeze on the back of her neck, the soft caress of a feather on her arm and then the shadows of her mind shifted and a doe stood before her, lending her strength.

Slowly, as if moving of their own accord, her arms raised the blade above her head, it's point touching the sky.

She saw the sky above her, not hidden by the roof of the Inn, but infinite and vast stretching across the world like a single starry blanket.

One large cloud floated directly over the Inn, grey and shinning in the silvery glow of the waning moon. That energy was hers to use.

At her will, the cloud began to drift into separate linear strands which twisted and writhed like smoke and descended down into an infinite string of energy, pouring into the shinning tip of the blade.

As she gathered energy from the air she began to focus on the earth beneath her feet, her shoes were gone and she felt the dirt between her toes and the humming life of the nearby forest just beneath the surface.

Vines of light began to grow swiftly, shinning brilliant green as they touched her skin and sent a glowing flow of energy through her body and up into the hilt of the blade.

She leant her own life to it, feeling the metal in her hands begin to heat up, the blade quivering with the power it was gathering. Her body felt amazingly light every nerve was alive with electricity, her skin prickled with pins and needles.

She held on as long as she could, feeling the blade vibrating like a struck tuning fork the high note flowing through her body.

With a huge force of will she cut off the energy from the earth and sky and circled the blade Wiccan Deosil (clockwise) above her head three times.

Power pored from its tip and her mind followed it as it dug a line in the earth 10 metres from the inn wall, no one would see it but they would feel it. Only she witnessed it rush round in a complete circle the perimeter crossing directly between Anna and her friends and the un-dead. She saw the undertaker rush forwards and forcibly stop as he hit this invisible barrier, witnessed his frustration and her friends amazement as he realized he couldn't get across to them.

With a rush the smells and murmurs of the villagers hit her, her own emotions nearly overwhelmed her as she returned to her physical body.

Taking a gulp of air she kept hold of the hot knife in trembling fingers.

"As above." she whispered weakly but forcefully.

She pulled the knife down holding it over her beating heart and turning it's tip downwards "So below!" she plunged it into the earth at her feet sealing the circle and falling to her knees.

She opened her eyes and saw only the hilt sticking up from the dirt.

"Blessed be." she whispered as her friends rushed through the door.

Note: like I said long one :D Please review I've been lacking in reviews for the last chapters and always love to hear what everyone thinks good or bad. 


	22. Scars

Note: Relieved not to have to type another fight scene just yet :D lil bit more Drac/Sarah stuff in this chapter.

JeanieBeanie: A week! I couldn't live like that! Was bad enough when my computer was down for an hour last week but more than a day and I'd be climbing the walls! Glad you liked the action -evil grin- would never be so evil as to kill anyone off…but that depends on if Tony pisses me off with his evil witch comments. That story sounds interesting will def check it out! Will you email me the link lol otherwise im looking through 5500 pages of stories!

Marston: know your not gonna read this for two weeks but thanx for the review anyway! See you when you get back!

Masquefangs097: Glad you loive it! Yay new reviewer!

Alucardspet: Here's the next chapter for you lil bit slower to help you catch your breath ;)

Christine Marquez : Carl dressed up like a girl in "The London assignment." it was a sort of cartoon prequel to the Van Helsing movie all about how he first started tracking Mr Hyde in London and how they end up in Paris at the start of the movie. Technically that is Carl's first field assignment though it doesn't really correspond with what he says in the movie. N of course my plan worked im a super wiccan don'tcha know!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 22

They stared at her sitting there covered in mud and gore, completely unrecognisable as she sat before the hilt of the dagger embedded deeply in the floor. Sarah glanced up at her friends smiling weakly. "Did it…did it work?" she asked quietly.

Anna stepped aside, her filthy hair falling forwards to cover her face for a moment until she brushed it away. Beyond her the Inn door stood wide open revealing legions of the dead throwing themselves repeatedly at the Inn only to be flung backwards by an invisible wall, meters away from the building. She beamed down at the girl kneeling to pull her into a grateful hug "We're safe till dawn." she announced grinning as the Inn erupted in cheers.

Sarah rose to her feet and was immediately engulfed in Amie's relieved hug. Both girls were nearly bowled over as Bob slammed into them from the side. "Your Sabrina!" he yelled enthusiastically when they pulled away.

Jory flashed her a weak grin as Carl and Tony helped him into a chair. She winced at his pale, blood caked face trying not to look too closely at the deep gash on his cheek. "Someone decided it'd be funny to hit me with a branch." he whispered "Hurt like hell." She squeezed his hand tightly not daring to hug him through fear of any other injuries he had.

"He'll be alright." Carl assured her a joyful grin cutting through his soot blackened face.

Marston embraced her then, his eyes shinning with amusement.

"Nice throw" she whispered to him remembering his dagger flying into the skull of the zombie with the blow gun.

He grinned "What can I say I'm a legend!" he exclaimed gleefully before being swallowed by the crowd.

Suddenly the Inn keeper was in front of her. The celebrations ceased as all eyes turned towards them Anna taking a wary step forward to stand at the girls shoulder. The man cast his eyes to the ground as though fearful to meet her gaze. "Thank you…is there anything we can do to repay you?"

Sarah grinned glancing down at herself and her friend's bloodied and dirty clothes and skin. Amie's eyes found her's glancing meaning fully at her greasy and rat tailed hair.

"Well we wouldn't mind taking a bath."

They were all shown to their rooms after the children were returned to their parents all glad to be out of the dark cold cellar from beneath the bar. Sarah was still grinning from the expression of love and relief on Anna's face as a young girl handed her back her sleeping baby. She wondered what Van Helsing would do when he held his son for the first time.

The upper levels of the Inn were a maze of dark corridors not nearly as grand as the carpeted and furnished halls of Valerius manor. The floor consisted of dust covered wooden floor boards, the kind that creaked and popped violently at the slightest pressure. Gaps between the boards showed the bar beneath them and the villagers settling in for a long night awaiting the coming of the dawn and freedom from the creatures groaning and howling beyond the walls.

"Not exactly private is it bet they can hear everything down there." Amie said wincing as a shower of dust fell through the gap and a muffled sneeze echoed moments later.

Marston sniggered "Yeh, means you and Bob can't get up to anything."

Jory was placed in Carl's room so the Friar could treat his wounds. Tony followed limping slightly the gash in his leg causing him considerable pain now that he was calm enough to feel it. Marston told Bob to go onto their room and followed in case the Friar needed any help with his friends. The rest had decided against medical treatment from the Friar insisting that their more injured companions be treated straight away. There was time enough for the others later.

Anna disappeared into her room Velkan tucked tightly in her arms. Sarah glanced back as the door shut and the sound of a key turning in the lock echoed behind them somewhat ominously. After all that had happened in the last few days it was unsettling to suddenly find everyone so eager to separate, she was even more unsettled when Amie opted to go into Bob's room in Marston's absence.

"That's our room next right?" she asked pausing in Bob's doorway while he received the key from the maid that accompanied them.

"Yeah so don't do anything cuz the walls are really thin here." Sarah answered teasing to hide he obvious discomfort at being left alone.

Amie grinned taking her share from the stack of clean clothes in Sarah's retrieved saddle bag.

"See you in a bit!" she called cheerfully as the door shut and the key turned loudly in the lock.

Sarah sighed and looked up to see the maid shifting uncomfortably next to the last door staring anywhere but at the girl in front of her clearly less than happy with the idea of being alone with the self-proven "witch".

"So this is mine and Amie's room?" Sarah asked tentatively.

The young maid nodded her eyes firmly focused on the boards beneath her feet. "Yes miss, the bath is full. If you need anything else miss, the servants bell is beside the fireplace one of us is always ready to answer."

Sarah highly doubted anyone would answer the rings of her bell but smiled anyway barely having time to thank the girl before her key was thrown at her and the maid had vanished in a rush of dust and angry squeals from the ancient floor.

She took one last hopeful look at the door next to her's hoping Amie would come back but knowing she wouldn't. With a sigh she pushed open the door to her room making a silent bet with herself that it would creak slightly disappointed when it didn't. The room was sparse, two single beds rested in the middle taking up most of the room itself. A table stood between them with a lit candle in the centre it's light dwarfed by the small fireplace and the roaring fire within it. A stone floor stretched out from the fireplace to take up that part of the floor while the rest was the same boarding as in the hallway, distant sounds of the bar below echoed up but she was relieved to see few gaps between them giving her at least some privacy.

Her eyes alighted on the metal tub sitting in front of the fire. It was large enough for someone to lounge in comfortably if they bent their knees and she was delighted to see the steam rising from the generous amount of water within. Her spirits lifted slightly and she turned and closed the door leaving it unlocked in case Amie needed to come in while she was still bathing.

With a last check around the room and a glance out of the window, at the zombies still milling below, she stripped away her soiled clothes and set them in a pile beside the fire place entertaining the idea of burning them before deciding against it.

At last she lowered herself into the bath hissing through her teeth as her many cuts and scrapes came in contact with the water. She sat down feeling the water pick out and begin to soothe her aching muscles, the dirt falling away in it's caresses like a second skin revealing the healthy pink of the skin beneath. A crude bar of soap had been set to the side for her and she smiled, silently thanking the young maid who had hurried away so quickly.

If the maid had acted like that what sort of reception could she expect from the wother villagers? Fear definitely, open hatred? Maybe…how would they react now that she'd help save their lives?

If this was a disney movie they'd all have learned a valuable lesson and welcomed her with open arms ironically accepting a witch in their midst, she thought sulkily scrubbing furiously at her arms. Then again if it was an anime or a manga she'd probably be lynched the minute she set foot in the bar area again.

Before long the water was murky and her skin and hair blissfully clean once more. She lay back in the warmth of the water letting it drive the chill from her bones and listening to it lap soothingly at the sides of the tub.

Her eyes drooped and she allowed them to close for a moment, the water lulling her gently to sleep and drawing her into a nightmare where she saw her manga self rent limb from limb by the Inn keeper, who had for some reason obtained the ability to transform into a Japanese mecha robot, the theme song for Neo Genisis Evangelion playing absurdly loud over her screams.

Dracula sat in the chair by the fire his head resting on the back of his hand, a smirk on his face as he watched her sleep, her hair floating around her naked shoulders as she slipped slowly beneath the murky water. He could barely contain his amusement when she finally slipped beneath the surface startling her awake.

Water sloshed over the side of the bath as she leapt up, spluttering and choking rubbing the dirty water from her eyes and cursing as she caught her bruise against the metallic side. He waited patiently for her to focus enjoying the view as the water only reached to her navel. She used her hand to sweep damp blond locks from her face and suddenly her eyes snapped up and she looked at him in comical disbelief. With a screech she threw herself back into the water, succeeding in sending more of it over the side, her arms covered her chest as the rest of the bath water did what it could to preserve her modesty.

"What are you doing get out!" she hissed angrily blushing furiously and the self satisfied look on his face.

"Ah my dear it's nothing I haven't seen before." he grinned his eyes flashing with mischief as he gracefully uncross his legs and stood gliding towards her. She tried to get as low in the water as she possibly could as he approached.

"Hey!" she exclaimed angrily as he approached. "You stay where you are pervert! I don't care how many times you've seen it your not seeing it again!"

His laugh echoed around the room bouncing back at her from the bare walls. "As you wish my dear."

She glared at him turning her back to reach for the towel resting by the fire place, grasping the warm material she pulled it around herself and escaped the cooling water wrapping herself securely before turning back to the smirking count. "how long was I sleeping?" she asked as she arranged the material keeping her back too him.

"An hour or two, your friends went down to the bar not long ago." she could here the amusement in his voice when he said "You sleep like the dead."

Sarah rolled her eyes and turned to face him. She shivered as his eyes seemed to darken lingering on her tousled hair and the beads of water clinging to the white skin of her shoulders and her throat. The twin scars his fangs had made stood out vividly in the firelight, droplets of water framing them in shimmering diamonds that sparkled enticingly. Without even realising it the count's knightly form shifted to the vampiric aristocrat.

Sarah backed up slightly as he approached her before she forced herself to stand her ground. His hand rose, passing as a chill breath of air about the scars making her shiver and the droplets of water freeze against her skin making her gasp and shiver pulling the towel tighter for the warmth it held.

"I pride myself in that I have given you all the scars on your body and soul in one form or another." he whispered hauntingly, almost hypnotised by the way the pulse danced on her throat just beneath the skin, quickening at his proximity.

His hands dropped to her abdomen hovering above the towel that separated him from the three pale scars that cross crossed her skin, the claws of a werewolf had given her those scars while his mind possessed the beast. She swallowed hard as his eyes rose up to catch her's once more, narrowing as his hand drifted to the right of her stomach just inches above her thigh. She felt the cold air prick her skin the damp towel crusting with frost at his touch.

"This scar…this was before me." he stated quietly.

She nodded mutely a phantom pain tugging at the area he indicated. "Two years before…my appendix went bad…they cut it out." she explained hesitantly.

The phantom count scowled at this pulling his hand away as though it burned him. "My scars are the ones you should bare for the rest of your life!" he passed a hand through the newly closed cut on her arm making her gasp in shock and pull it closer. "That scar will fade!" he grabbed at her hand the cold rush of air making her fingers go wide exposing the deep cut across her palm. "this scar will fade, but only the ones I inflicted should last, so that you know you were mine, so that your always mine!"

She fought back tears pressing a hand to the appendix scar. "Not all of me." she said defiantly.

He shook his head smiling despite himself. Slowly his hair came loose and his black coat gave way to mail and silver armour. "No…I never had all of you. But their will be more scars."

She met his gaze and held it. "There already are."

Suddenly, a deep boom sounded loudly echoing through her link to the circle around the Inn. Sarah winced as the air around her vibrated as the dead assaulted the energy circle. It wasn't just the dead that were attacking her, another presence prickled the back of her mind, a dark presence it seemed the Necromancer wasn't impressed with her little magic trick.

She could feel him pushing at her barrier searching for weaknesses. It was a sensation she'd felt once before, nearly a week ago on her last normal day at home before all of this started again, before Dracula had appeared. Had he been the cause of that? Was it possible he had found a way to reach through worlds?

Too many unsettling thoughts, one by one she cast them aside forcing herself to keep calm and find a way to strengthen her circle.

Dracula obediently turned his back as she struggled into the clean shirt and riding trousers. He watched as she sat on the dusty floor breathing deeply.

She closed her eyes and tried to drown out the sounds of the dead focusing on her breathing. Within moments a memory came to her, Richard's voice echoing in her mind until his face materialised in front of her. He was sitting in his robes, his black hood pulled up making him look like a druid. It was Ostara the Wiccan celebration of Easter and the vernal equinox.

"I'm going to give you a crash course in making energy balls." 

His words made her grin the memory fading as she dropped further into the calm recesses of her mind. Raising her hands she rubbed the palms together swiftly gathering heat from the friction and calling up green light from the earth beneath the inn and the dark sky above. When she felt ready, she gently drew her hands apart willing the energy to gather within the space there.

She felt it growing within her palms, warm and tingling against her skin, in her mind's eye it flowed deep blue's and greens rolling between her palms into the most perfect orb of light. She breathed deeply as it grew, drawing up the energy beneath her and above her, feeling the energy gather and expand pushing her hands apart with astonishing force, like two repulsive magnets.

Dracula's presence filled her then, a chill that raced down her spine. Yet she did not break her concentration, her eyes remained closed lest she lose the vivid colour of the ball she had created.

"Can you only see it in your mind? Even as you feel it, believe in what you are shaping, extraordinary eyes like yours can not yet pick out the colour." he whispered to her, leaning as close as he dared to her face so that the warmth of her breath lessoned the chill of his ghostly cheeks.

"I see it as clearly as if my eyes were open." she whispered. "and I feel it."

The count smiled at the wonder of that, the innocence of it. "Ah yes but such beauty must been truly seen to be appreciated."

His hand closed over her eyes making her shiver violently, the ball spiked in her hands as her concentration gave way to panic for a moment.

"Step back." she whispered shakily. "What ever your doing…stop it."

He drew his hand back smiling eagerly. "Do you still feel it?" he asked quietly, drawing back to crouch beside her, his cat like body tense with anticipation.

Sarah trembled, she swallowed hard focusing once more on the energy in her hands. The force was still there though it had ceased it's growth, her skin prickled with it but the colour was gone, her mind's eye was closed to it now.

Sighing she gritted her teeth angrily. "I feel it…but now I can't see it." she spat in irritation annoyed that he had interfered.

Dracula's dry chuckle reached her. "That my dear witch…is because your eyes are closed."

He watched her frown at his words grinning broadly when her eyelids flickered ever so slightly. "Would you like to see it as I do?" he asked quietly. "You need only open your eyes."

Slowly she obeyed, her lashes parted and her pupils immediately shrank in the onslaught of brilliant light that followed. She winced squinting hard, her lips parting in wonder.

A sphere of dazzling neon blue light flowed between her palms, it's light blazing out across her dark room touching every corner and chasing away the shadows. Tears blurred her vision as she watched it swim beneath her fingers flashes of green and purple merging with the blue in a rainbow of unbelievable beauty.

She glanced up at the figure crouched beside her. Once again the armour of Vladislaus had vanished replaced by the dark coat and pulled back ponytail of count Dracula.

His eyes were sad, resting on her with a longing that both scared and warmed her with it's intensity. "I could have shown you so many beautiful things." he whispered.

Tears flowed down her cheeks as she looked away from him back to the energy ball. "I see and do amazing things as I am." she said.

Turning her palms towards the floor, she pressed the ball down into the floorboards and with a startling flash they melted into the wood. She took a deep breath as the tingling warmth vanished and she felt it travel through the stone to the earth beneath the inn. A collective shudder passed through the assembled dead as it travelled out to strengthen the circle.

Dracula looked hard at his former bride as she climbed uneasily to her feet shaking off the last lingering strands of energy. After a long moment she glanced back up at him, tears shinning on her skin.

"You could have done so much." he hissed.

Sarah smiled glancing towards the full length mirror against the wall and catching sight of her reflection standing alone and sorrowful in the glass. A fleeting memory of a Dracula film flashing behind her eyes prompting an irresistible question. "And you Dracula." she met his eyes with a sad smile. "Could you have turned my tears into diamonds?"

The count sighed rising to his feet and stepping beside her to gaze into the mirror. They both watched the glass as he raised a phantom hand to the damp trails on her skin. He smiled himself when the glimmer of something passed over the same spot in the mirror, as close to a reflection as his spirit would ever get.

"If it were ever in my power to do so." he whispered.

When Sarah glanced away from the mirror he was gone.

A swift sharp knock startled her and she swiftly wiped away her tears as Tony marched into the room. He glanced around in confusion "Who are you talking to?"

Sarah shrugged nervously. "Me, myself and I, it's not a very interesting conversation." she answered grinning.

Tong rolled his eyes and crossed the room heading for the large window "And you think I'm crazy. They still out there?"

"Yep." she followed him and they settled on the window seat parting the curtains to look down at the frustrated dead milling meters below them. "Their actually kinda fun to watch, the undertaker's seriously pissed at me, see he's yelling abuse again!" Sarah exclaimed waving cheerfully.

Tony sighed glancing around at the tiny bedroom and the two small inadequate beds that Sarah and Amie would be sleeping in that night (There was a strict rules against unmarried couples sharing a room in the Inn so much to their disgust Amie and Bob had agreed to stay separate after Anna's assurances it was only for one night.)

"It's a bit different to the manor isn't it." Sarah muttered curling her legs under her on the window seat and following his gaze. "But I'm just glad we have actual beds, didn't really want to die of hyperthermia huddled on the ground in the snow."

"Yeah we were lucky to have the manor last year nothing like a hard day of vampire slaying to come back to a king-sized bed and servants rushing around to accommodate your every whim."

Sarah snorted "Servants! I don't remember ever meeting the servants and I remember you sleeping in a tiny single bed sharing a room with the other lads."

Tony grinned at her "Well we didn't tell you but the servants only left when you came back, yeah they have a thing against evil undead witches trying to eat them in the middle of the night."

"Maybe they should have stuck around then would have stopped me trying to bite you lot, you know sneak off just before dawn pick one off here and there, would have saved a lot of trauma, probably better for me too since they've lived without processed MacDonald's their whole lives."

"Hey woman I don't do no Mac Donalds, I'm a KFC man!" Tony announced proudly.

Sarah laughed glancing automatically at her left wrist and frowning when she remembered removing her watch at the manor. "What time is it?"

"Eleven-ish." Tony informed her helpfully.

She frowned "Really? Feels later, what time did we get here?"

"Maybe 5ish, sunset time, we defeated a zombie army in less than 6 hours and still have time for dinner."

"Dinner?" she asked hopefully her stomach growling at the pleasant thought.

Tony groaned "Yep but not for another hour at least, the cooks are still a little shaken up thanks to your little voodoo trick down there." he paused looking at her curiously. "Not that I'm not grateful but could you warn me before you do something that freaking scary again? What did you do anyway?"

She grinned "I did what any British born sci-fi fan would do."

Tony snorted "Which would be?"

"I reversed the polarity of the neutron flow." she stated smartly smirking, her eyes flashing with amusement.

Tony looked at her blankly, one eyebrow arched in fond amusement. "What the fuck! What are you talking about?"

She laughed "One day I'm going to force you to watch at least one classic Doctor who, fifth doctor era."

"Thought you were only into Christopher Eccelston's Doctor?"

She grinned "Yeh, but you have to respect the classics."

"And how long have you been waiting to say that quote?" he asked knowingly lounging back against the wall.

She blushed "At least a year."

They sat in silence for the moment occasionally glancing down at the shadows still milling around beyond the perimeter of the Inn. Tony toyed with the idea to ask about her circle again but decided she'd explain another time, now it was just comfortable to accept what had happened and enjoy the fact that they were able to sit here together for the first time in too long.

"It feels different this time." He said suddenly.

Sarah looked up at him absently picking at the bandage on her palm. "Different how?"

"Well last time we didn't have a lot of time to think about what was happening. First day the vamps got you and from then it was nothing but fighting and trying to forget we had too fight. It was like a game they hit us and we hit back and in between we got to still be kids got too mess around the manor and piss Carl off."

He trailed off glancing at his companion noticing the stony look on her face and the way she was staring unseeing at the floor. A memory of that "game" was playing out in her mind. The last time she'd been alone with Tony, minutes before she had almost burnt to death on some lonely cliff-face. Tears pricked her eyes and she blinked them away quickly.

"Fun game." she muttered coldly.

"You know what I mean." Tony said hurriedly his voice slightly strained. "We were still kids, we could afford to make mistakes because Van Helsing was around to help us when we needed it, but now…now it's different, without him we're not as safe as we were with him. This time we can't afford to be so…"

"Innocent?" Sarah asked her eyes meeting his. "That's called growing up Tony we've all had to do that really fast the last year…I know I did."

He smiled and pulled a pack of cards from his pocket waving them tantalisingly under her nose. "So lets do something immature, how much money you got?"

They sat in the centre of the room the candle and the fire at there backs the only source of warmth and illumination to see the cards by.

"You know you've lost your job don't you." Tony said matter of factly, dealing out the cards for their second game of Chinese poker.

It was a window into their school days and one they were both enjoying. Their heads were full of the forgotten memories of twenty of their fellow class mates engaged in one common room wide game that continued for hours. Simon cherry dealing the cards with a manic gleam in his eyes and a cheap suit on that made him feel like a mafia boss and look like a sleazy business man.

Sarah nodded "My contract ended last week…I might still go back. The lab's short handed they need someone who knows the machines." she accepted her split of the deck fanning them out to check the hand, concealing her glee when she spotted three queens and a complete set of doubles to use at her leisure.

"What about you?" she asked watching him rearrange his own hand to make it more manageable. "At least I wasn't expected to be back this week, it's like you've just vanished."

The boy shrugged running a hand through the smooth growth of hair appearing on his chin. "I can get another job, Jory does every week." they both smiled.

Tony placed a single three in the space between them and she placed her single five atop forcing him to go higher. Both grinned as the game progressed the rhythm catching them in a very different and less lethal rush of excitement than the one they had experienced hours before.

Taking a chance she placed a two and began the new set, forcing him into hands of three identical cards. Tension from the battle dropped from them, weariness replaced by simple comfortable companionship while the noises of the bar echoed between the floor boards. For a moment the groans and cries of the zombies outside were drowned out by the two friends sharing a carefree moment for the first time in months.

Over time and with his absence Sarah had come to realise her brief infatuation with Tony had been one of shared comfort, of two people who effortlessly existed with each other. It was a deep friendship she'd never had before, one where nothing was held back, where an insult and sharp jibe was more a display of affection than any kind word ever could be.

That she knew this now, as she sat laughing and talking with him, was a sign that she'd grown up, that they'd all grown up. They were coming out of the awkward years of adolescence where the world was a strange and confusing place. It hit her like a icy wind as she realised the boy sitting across from her would turn twenty in a few short months, the boy she'd known since she was four. It was a hard thing to accept, harder still to accept that Jory would turn twenty in even less time and barely two months after her own birthday would fast approach.

When had they all gotten used to that? When had they started full time jobs, paid insurance on their cars, planned their new homes? Amie and Bob were looking to buy a house now, what was next…children?

She shook herself out of her thoughts and found herself confronted with Tony's smug expression. He wordlessly placed a pair of ace's on the pile knowing full well she lacked the cards to beat him, and with an air of satisfaction fanned out his cards to display the ten card flush he'd been saving, winning the game in a moment.

Sarah scowled. "Damn it!"

He leaned forward sliding the neat stack of silver coins over to his fast growing pile.

"You could still win it back." he said smugly passing her the deck to reshuffle and deal. She rolled her eyes.

"No more gambling I'm cutting you off and closing my purse, I lost £12 last time we did this!"

He grinned as she dealt the cards. "Just trying to keep things interesting."

They played on this time just for fun, Sarah's mood improving as each card was set down, all the troubled thoughts she'd entertained for a long time dissipated and she began to feel a longing for the rest of her friend's.

"Buddhist's meditate right?" She asked groaning slightly when he placed three Ace's and two spare cards down, winning the hand and waving his dwindling card pile mockingly in front of her.

"Yeh, yet another thing we invented and witches stole, like the whole five elements thing, there should be copyright laws on that!" he exclaimed putting down a single three and beginning the next hand.

"Do you ever do the chanting…like Chakra work and stuff?" she asked, foolishly playing her highest card and allowing him to win the game.

He placed his last cards down smugly and began to even up the deck. "Nope I'm not a big OHMer." he grinned "Why? Do you do that? Have you stolen the chants from us too?"

Sarah laughed "Well I've just started this new spiritual healing course and we were doing the chanting, with the mantra's which made me feel really silly actually, it was one of those things where you start to get into it, your happy meditating, you have the whole mantra down, a nice soothing "Lam, Lam" and then the guy next to you says "Pork." Tony burst out laughing. 

After the fourth game she noticed him watching her out of the corner of his eye and she realised he had an ulterior motive for his little visit. She met his eyes and smiled knowingly.

"So everyone's gambling and drinking…what the hell are you doing up here?"

He leant back so that he was casually lounging on the wall. "Trying to get you to come down…come on stop playing the tragic heroine."

She grinned at the bluntness of his words he definitely knew her too well. She thought for a moment listening to the laughter and singing below her, feeling the tug in the pit of her stomach that pulled her too the rest of her friends.

"Well?" Tony prompted patiently.

"There's going to be food?"

He laughed nodding. "Yep they'll be serving it up now."

She smiled her thoughts turning to company and food away from a dark cold room where her only company was a dead vampire and the wails of the creatures outside the walls.

"Yeh ok lets go get me drunk…ok tipsy…maybe just merry." he smiled at her and they stood, leaving the cards scattered across the floor. Silently they made their way downstairs to join the party.

Note: Read and Review! 


	23. for the dead travel fast

Note: ok I didn't like the briefness of this chapter so have added to it.

Christine Marquez: Thanx for the idea's on this really helped me lol I was reading your email and as soon as you started talking about it a little van helsing shaped plot bunny began to run riot around my head!

Masquetwilight0907: Thanks for the review I love writing interactions between the characters especially if Dracula's involved plus it was great not to have to continue the fight scenes lol there's only so much my mind can take!

JeanieBeanie: Yeh im staying clear of big battles for the time being now that that ones over and done with. Know what you mean about the crush kill destroy fics out there, the stories just never develop or get anywhere. Hopefully mine is :crosses fingers:

HughJackmanFan: Welcome back!

Sephrothlay: Thanx for the review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 23

As the Gallows beneath his prison began to take shape Van Helsing had been doing some work of his own.

His cell, he'd discovered, was almost as neglected by his captors as he was. Rust and moss plagued the chains and stone floor adding a metallic and moulding odour to the already pungent aroma of his own waste. Whilst the smell added to his misery he had discovered the weakest points where the rust had gotten to the cheap corrosive iron of the chains and the metal had been eaten away around the wall clasps.

The smell was partially the reason why Van Helsing hadn't been subjected to his usual torment for the past few days which meant it was also to blame for his hunger pains. It amused him slightly that his captors, whilst hardly smelling of roses themselves, would find the odour of his cell so repugnant, he had always assumed rats thrived in such conditions. A scuffle in the corner made him incline his head in silent apology to the species in question.

The absence of his captors did leave him with some regrets. They hadn't exactly gone out of their way to make sure he was fed on a daily basis but their reluctance to enter his cell had included an absence of the meals they would have flung at him.

Food would have been welcome and a glass of clean water (he'd been surviving off the rain water pouring past the bars of his window.)

But he was Gabriel Van Helsing and he'd survived on worse rations. Though the need for food left him weary he had been given what he needed. A little time for his body to rest and recuperate between beatings. The lash wounds on his back had healed somewhat and were no longer painful when he moved. The muscles were stiff but still retained their old strength, months of pulling on the chains of his prison had seen to that.

As the sky outside his barred window darkened, he leant forward with all his might, throwing his strength into the rusted links of the chains that held him. The metal screamed weakly under his assault the stone clutching the metal with jealous abandon, determined not to be parted.

The hunter persisted, a small grin breaking through his chapped and bleeding lips when the sound of crumbling stone reached his ears and the metal gave way ever so slightly.

Groans tore through his ragged throat as the metal cut into his palms and wrists sending warm trails of blood across his filthy skin. Still he didn't cease his efforts. Sweat gathered on his forehead cutting through the muck as droplets ran down his cheeks to gather in the matted hair of his beard. Greasy strands of hair stuck to his face as he gritted his teeth and dug his aching feet mercilessly into the straw strewn ground.

Joints popped and screamed until finally, with an inhuman screech the rungs of his chains were yanked from the wall. Startled and exhausted he pitched forward with his momentum tripping over his own feet and landing in a painful heap upon the floor, pieces of stone and dust from the wall settling over his heaving body.

Silence reined in the small cell, outside the sun slipped beneath the horizon and far away in an Inn across the sea Anna fought against an army of the dead.

Van Helsing lay still for a moment shocked that it was so easy, that after so many months it had been so simple to break his bonds. Rolling on to his back he brought his hands up to his face watching in fascination as they moved before his eyes without constraints. Slowly he brought them closer and did something he'd been wanting to do for the past 5 months…he scratched his nose.

The absurdity of this simple action was not lost on him and somewhere beneath the dirty mass of hair that had grown over his face he grinned, a dry chuckle breaking through his strained throat to echo around his cell.

He stood slowly, stretching his aching arms the chains dragging across the floor. The old alertness was back in his movements, those who had known him well would have seen the keen way his eyes took in the door and the window, calculating his options with military precision.

His keen ears picked up the distant chatter of voices beyond his cell door before footsteps accompanied them. It seemed that Herr Logan and Herr Hans hadn't forgotten him completely. The third set of footsteps were lighter and more brisk then that of his jailers, almost eager as they approached the rank cell. With his senses on high alert Van Helsing studied the tread forming a picture of the third man in his mind as if he'd just found the tracks of a fascinating beast in the snow and was hunting it down.

Too eager to have any knowledge of the reality of imprisonment. A noble then? Or a man who'd lived a sheltered life perhaps listening to glorified tales of justice. Young, and impertinent he decided as the soft murmur of voices drifted closer and he heard a strong patronising tone above the steady thud of feet.

There it was then, another noble come to view the scourge of Europe before his hanging. A chance for his captors to gain a few more pennies at his expense. But unwittingly they were bringing him exactly what he needed…a hostage.

Lord Charles Quinn strutted before his hosts down the long corridor looking down his nose at them with the air of a monarch looking over his servants. His long and expensive tail coat billowed impressively behind him, his bowler hat sitting impressively on his straight brown hair tipped to one side.

Herr Logan and Herr Fitz flanked him glaring between his shoulders and shooting each other murderous glances. The Lord was unaware that his ride home might go less than smoothly after he'd displayed the heavy purse on his belt to the two jailers on arrival, no one would find his body that part of the world was crawling with thieves.

As they approached the last cell Quinn wrinkled his nose in disgust at the stench of human waste stuffing a silken handkerchief beneath his pointed nose.

"What a God awful stench!" he chocked trying desperately not to gag.

Herr Logan grunted in irritation pushing rudely past to retrieve the beating cane from beside the door.

"How can you stand it man?" Lord Quinn spluttered in disgust until the large man passed close to him and a new and yet more repugnant body odour burned his nostrils.

"Oh I see." he gagged turning quickly away to lean against the wall heaving silently into the fine cloth.

Herr Logan looked surprised at the man's reaction he quickly lifted one filthy arm and inhaled deeply shooting his partner a broken toothed grin as Lord Quinn doubled over his face a strange shade of green in the candle light.

"Something wrong my lord?" Fitz hissed patronisingly. Quinn fought to regain the use of his legs standing tall and dignified against the wall the hankie still pressed tightly over his nose and mouth.

"Not…not at all gentleman." he straightened up and squared his shoulders nodding towards Logan and gesturing towards the cell door. "Please proceed, lets see the savage."

With practiced caution Herr Logan raised his torch high casting the orange glow into the dark interior of the cell alighting on the figure chained securely in the shadows. Van Helsing glared back at him the light catching his eyes so that they flashed suddenly, a lesser man would have shrunk back and indeed had Quinn been able to see into that cell at that moment he may have been halfway back to his horse and carriage. Herr Logan merely sneered back at the hunter, confident in the chains that held him.

Van Helsing had confidence in those chains as well, the weight in his hands felt good though his arms ached from holding position while the bounty hunter unlocked the cell door.

Logan took one cautious step into the room holding the torch up high to chase away the gloom. "In here my Lord." he called back out into the hallway.

Van Helsing watched in anticipation as the young lord strutted into the room the handkerchief gone from his face though he was clearly trying desperately to breath through his mouth against the smell of the room.

"So…this is the famous Van Helsing." his voice must have sounded un-natural even to himself, high with fear he was trying desperately to conceal. He hurriedly cleared his throat as the bounty hunters gave twin snorts of laughter, Fitz turning it unsuccessfully into a hacking cough.

Quinn blushed angrily to prove his courage he foolishly took a determined step closer to Van Helsing. It was exactly what the hunter had been waiting for. Logan and Fitz darted forward but he'd already leapt up seizing the lord around the throat and wrapping on rusty chain around his delicate throat.

"Now then lets be dignified about this shall we?" he asked pleasantly while the Lord was mute with shock.  
There was a moment where hunter and captive blinked at each other before Quinn gave the most appallingly girly squeal that made the three men present freeze in astonishment momentarily united as they stared in bemusement at the captive lord.

"So much for dignity." Van Helsing muttered. Taking advantage of the moment he flicked his wrist and sent the rusty iron chain at Herr Logan catching him in the face. The bounty hunter went down with a howl of pain and rage, a large bleeding gash extending from his cheek to his forehead, it was a miracle that the chain hadn't claimed his eye.

His companion watched him fall to his knees hands trying to stem the flow of blood. With a bellow he dived across the hall way and seized the hated cane that had caused Van Helsing so much misery for the last few months of his imprisonment.

"What are you doing?" Quinn screamed as the large man charged the hunter and his hostage, eyes alive with malice.

Van Helsing threw Lord Quinn to the side and reaching up caught the downward swing of the cane meeting his captor eye to eye for the first time. The unfortunate man looked up at him in bewildered panic as he felt Van Helsing holding him in an iron grip. They struggled for a few moments arms trembling with effort as the hunter slowly forced him to his knees in the filth of the cell.

Gabriel towered over him watching with some satisfaction as sweat began to bead the filthy bounty hunters forehead. Seizing him by the shirt he yanked him off his feet and held him up against the wall his beard and unruly hair making him appear terrifying in the meagre light of the cell.

"Be thankful I'm not a murderer." he hissed before flinging the unfortunate man across the room where he collided with his comrade sending them both sprawling in the slick straw where they lay motionless.

Van Helsing strode over to Lord Quinn who was still cowering against the door too terrified to even attempt to escape.

He stood above him smiling in a friendly manner that seemed to terrify the young man all the more. "Name?"

"Ch…Charles…Lord Charles Quinn."

Van Helsing grinned hauling him to his feet by the collar. "Well Charlie, what's say you and me go for a little walk in the woods?"

The upper corridor seemed lighter as Sarah walked down it next to Tony, even the eerie creaks of the floorboards were just vaguely amusing. Seeing the ease with which Tony walked she glanced down at the leg of his new trousers in confusion. "Thought you hurt your leg?"

He grinned at her pulling the material up to show the bandage over his knee. "Just a flesh wound, Carl fixed me up he's started learning more about medicine after last year."

Sarah smiled brightly she couldn't blame Carl, the injuries he'd had to deal with the year before had kept the friar under constant strain, nothing worse than caring for a bunch of teenagers in the middle of an epic battle between good and evil.

Laughter reached her ears as they reached the main stairway and descended into the bar.

Several of the inn patrons crossed themselves as she entered whispering "Stregoica." until it was a dull hiss around the room.

Carl appeared running a nervous hand through his short blonde hair, his grin warm as he greeted his friends. 

"What are they saying?" Sarah whispered curiously.

Carl laughed lightly. "Their calling you "Witch" which I must say is not surprising."

As she grinned back the villagers all simultaneously crossed themselves and pointed two fingers towards her.

"And what are they doing now?"

"It is a charm against the evil eye."

"Wait I do a charm and it's evil they do one and its fine? How is that fair?"

Tony laughed "They didn't steal it from the eastern religions." he teased her.

They crossed the room and found the others laughing at a far table. Before she sat down Sarah glanced quickly at the hilt of the athame sticking up from the middle of the floor her pentagram necklace dull against the bronze. She could hearing the dead prowling outside the building her eyes glimpsing a pale figure briefly through the small barred window.

Marston's voice brought her attention back to the room. "Sarah I'm a bit Lary!" he yelled joyfully saluting her with half a mug of Ale and succeeding in spilling most of it onto the straw covered floor.

Sarah laughed settling on to a stool next to Jory who grinned drunkenly at her.

Amie laughed at Marston "Lary?"

"Lary!" he yelled again with more enthusiasm empting his mug and slamming it down on the table.

Jory nudged Sarah and leaned in. "They keep buying us drinks!" he informed her in an overly loud whisper.

"Oh dear God." she laughed in mock horror as she realised just how drunk her friends were.

Bob downed his Ale grinning at Amie "Yeh this is a real man's drink!" he informed her pulling her over for a quick kiss.

Sarah laughed as Amie rolled her eyes in mock exasperation settling comfortably in her boyfriends lap. She shot Tony an amused grin only to find him staring thoughtfully at the boarded up door of the inn beyond which the dead still prowled.

"Their not coming in."

He jumped glancing back at her "Yeah I realise that…not going to ask the how's or why's of that by the way, cause I never need to know." She smiled at that but his expression still troubled her.

"So what's the problem?"

"Anna said we were days ahead of them…days, how did they get here just a few hours behind us, not even that."

"Denn die Todten reiten Schnell." They both jumped as Carl's voice echoed across the table over Bob's laughter.

"I read it in a book called "Lenore" by Burger's it means. "For the dead travel fast." The friar explained.

After a while the villagers forgot to cross themselves and mutter as they passed the teens at the table and Sarah settled in to celebrate with her friends, tactfully ignoring the dark shape of Dracula perched on the narrow beam above their heads.

"Did you see me go for the legs?" Jory mimed chopping the legs of a zombie off with his now empty ale tankard nearly falling off his stool with excitement. "It was just like that last battle in lord of the rings!"

Marston laughed "Yeh! I sorta have a beard like Aragorn's just wish I still had my long hair."

When no one rushed to agree he decided it would be a good time to burst into song.

"And now! The end is near! Come on Jory"  
Laughing everyone looked at Jory expectantly he blushed mumbled incoherently and then yelled out "…Curtain!"

He looked proudly around as everyone struggled to control their mirth snorting into their ale.

"You don't know the words?" Tony asked grinning at his friend.

Before Jory could answer Marston downed his beer in one massive gulp slamming the tankard down and leant across the table to stare Tony in the eye a serious expression on his features. "You know Frank Sinatra was really a member of the mafia and the guy you don't see in the God Father was really Frank Sinatra!" he informed them all nodding proudly.

Jory laughed swaying slightly in his seat barely able to string two words together. "Yes but the truth is Marston…"

But Marston cut him off exclaiming loudly "He's alive!"

"Who? Sinatra?"

Tony laughed "Is he?"

Bob "He's six feet under."

Carl watched in amused silence as the drunken conversation suddenly turned again the constant random comments being fired across the table every few minutes.

Jory leant across the table spilling his 10th ale and jabbing a finger in Sarah's face "You know what? The film Van Helsing is shit! So's Underworld but…they are shit!" he exclaimed laughing at the expression on her face.

Amie mock slapped him trying to keep the smirk off her face "Jory!"

He grinned sheepishly back at "Sorry Amie I won't do it again."

Sarah glared at him "That had better be the alcohol poisoning talking!"

It was late when they finally stumbled gratefully up to their beds a small candle kept alight in each room to hold off the dark and the doors and windows firmly locked.

Across the sea Lord Charles Quinn stumbled through the corridors of the small prison his feet slipping and a large hand on the back of his neck steering him roughly towards the open night air.

Van Helsing was relived to discover the guards were all asleep, whiskey on their clothes and round their mouths. "You know a man could be insulted by this, I'm supposed to be the most wanted man in Europe, you'd think they'd at least be sober." he muttered grinning at Charles who was frantically trying to kick a stick at the nearest guard to wake him.

"None of that now." The hunter muttered firmly steering the whimpering man out the door and into the deserted court yard.

The night air hit him, biting at his skin left exposed from his tattered clothes. The bitter wind hit the fresher wounds across his back sending a delicious shiver of cold pain through his body. He caught himself from laughing a loud in delight as he looked up and saw the stars above his head and the dark tower that had held him for so long pointing up like a crooked finger among them.

He didn't even spare the newly constructed gallows a glance instead his gaze swept the courtyard alighting on the stables at the far end. "That where you horse is Charlie?" he asked pleasantly giving the man a gentle shove forward.

In a moment of foolish bravado Lord Quinn dug his heels in and aimed a flimsy punch at his captor. Van Helsing dodged it with ease and delight, his old reflexes returning with a burst of adrenaline. Within a moment lord Quinn lay in an unconscious heap at his feet and he stalked slowly towards the stable.

He was so intent on his escape that he didn't notice Igor slip silently from the shadows and dart into the woods.

Note: phew that's done lol only what three months in the writing? Again sorry for the wait like I said new job, new people old boyfriends turning up and writers block, not a good combination.  
Lil bit of a cliffhanger but promise will update sooner this time.

Review! 


	24. Before the Dawn

JeanieBeanie33: Yeah last chapter was a bit slow I really struggled with it hopefully this one will be a little better paced.

Christine Marquez : Here's the update you've been dropping not so subtle hints for lol I've gotta try and catch up with you now!

Fortune Zyne: Put the pipe down!

Catlover15489: So how goes that waiting thing? Thanks so so much for all the reviews you sent me! Still can't believe you read and reviewed every deep blue sea chapter!

Note: gonna try and write more often now, glad your all still around reviews are like my chocolate!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 24

The horse snorted as it's hooves bit into the soft leaf litter of the dark woods. Van Helsing drove it hard, eager to place distance between himself and his prison. The dark trees rose up around him no hindrance to the mare who carried him to freedom.

The moon had risen soon after they entered the forest, full and bright it painted the ground with silver spots lighting the way like a beacon. Van Helsing headed west towards the sea ,no thoughts of vengeance or a needless sense of duty clouded his mind his heart just screamed at him to make it to Anna and the small valley in the mountains where she was waiting.

Her voice echoed in his head "We Valerius women are said to be vengeful to husbands who miss a birthing." He laughed joyfully the sound strange to his ears after so long. He had a child a family and he was on his way home.

Suddenly the horse shied, twisting violently to the left. It was all Gabriel could do to stay in the saddle as it began to buck and panic beneath him. The horse reared at the dark trees, stamping around and around in a panicked circle.

Van Helsing clung on noting how it's ears were flat against it's skull, how it's eyes were wild and searching. "Woo! Calm yourself!" He ordered pulling hard and forcing the beast to back up until it's hunches touched the trunk of the tree behind it. The beast froze at the contact it's body trembling violently beneath him, it's breath misting in front of it's face.

Van Helsing's keen eyes scanned the darkness around them searching for what had startled the animal. He cursed the greasy mop of unkempt hair as it impaired his vision. Silence fell on horse and rider as both strained for the slightest sound of a pursuer, and then a low growl sounded from the darkness. A twig snapped and the musky scent of damp fur reached the Hunter.

The horse bolted carrying him with it stumbling as it fled. Van Helsing cursed the loss of his weapons his fingers aching to feel a trigger beneath them as the sounds of something large following them echoed just behind. He turned once to glance back and saw a demon from hell itself.

A hound the size of a werewolf it's body a mass of shaggy black fur and it's head, a thing of leathery skin and bat-like features it's eyes bulging and lidless fixed on him and it's fangs bared.

It was gaining on man and horse tearing up the ground beneath it's feet as it followed wisps of sulphur smoke appearing from it's nostrils before they were stolen by the wind.

Suddenly it leapt forward it's claws flashing out for Van Helsing.

He cried out in fury and pain as talons racked across his already damaged back tearing him from the saddle. Gritting his teeth against the pain he shifted his momentum landing in an awkward crouch to the side of the dirt track his knees bending to absorb the impact that jarred his weakened and malnourished muscles.

He glanced up to see the horse plunge wildly ahead it's eyes rolling in panic as the hell-hound leapt again just flash of fangs and fur darting from the trees to tear at it's hunches. With an unearthly scream the poor beast stumbled and crashed down to the undergrowth kicking and flailing as the monster fastened it's great lipless jaws over the artery in it's throat. Van Helsing reached automatically for the gun at his side forgetting that none had hung there for months.

With bitter regret he stayed low slinking un-noticed into the undergrowth as the faithful horse breathed it's last and the hell hound feasted on the warm meat. The beast had forgotten him for the moment but soon it would sniff him out and the hunt would begin again. He wasn't used to being prey.

Sarah crept down the dark stairway and into the main bar of the Inn, she jumped in surprise when a the large pile of rags at her feet grunted loudly and rolled to reveal the worn and concerned face of the Inn keeper himself, holding an empty bottle of whiskey close to his side like a lover. She smiled glad that the man had at least drowned his own fears the best way he knew how.

"Watch where you tread." she whispered back to Amie who clutched her arm a few steps behind.

The pretty brunette wrinkled her nose in disgust as they carefully jumped the last few steps to avoid the stinking heap of the man. "Does he even know what a bath is?" she hissed, gagging as the stench of stale sweat and booze assaulted their senses.

Sarah sniggered glancing around at the families and friends huddled around the room, all a cautious distance from the temporary Athame that was still buried up to the hilt in the centre of the room. It hurt the girl that they feared the very thing that had kept them safe but she resigned herself to the fact that her practice would always be miss understood by those who had grown up taught to fear it.

She could sense a comfort rising from it now, spreading to the encompassing circle. Everyone around could feel it, a subtle thing, perhaps a sudden wave of warmth, a slight tingle to the air. Of course they wouldn't let themselves acknowledge such a thing.

"Are you going to pull it out?" Amie whispered kneeling to examine the dirty hilt and the pentagram disk still resting comfortably on it.

Sarah shook her head. "Not yet, I have to check their all gone first."

Amie shuddered as she saw her friend's gaze fall determinedly on the barricaded front door.

"You don't have to come." the blond witch said noticing her friend's reluctance.

"I would really rather neither of us went." Her friends stammered smiling weakly. "But I'll come if I have too."

The two girls crept forwards taking hold of either side of one of the upturned tables that had been placed haphazardly over small door.

"You got it?" Sarah grunted, wincing as the gash in her palm began to throb under the pressure, and the large bruise on her left arm also made it's presence felt.

Amie nodded, her face pale in the pre-dawn darkness, her own fresher wounds opening anew so that the sleeve of her top became dark with sudden blood flow. She said nothing, merely gritted her teeth against the pain and pulled with all her might.

They gasped as the full weight of the oak table fell on to their weary limbs, their feet slid in the dust as they skittered to the side and dropped the table in to place. A dull thud echoed around the silent room. The girls froze as several bodies shifted, but relaxed as the low breathing and wild snoring of the occupants resumed.

Amie pressed a shaky hand on her arm and brought it back bloody. Sarah helped her roll her sleeve up and exposed the flesh wound and the line of blood rolling swiftly from it. Amie bit her lip as her friend used a knife to cut the sleeve off her own new gypsy top away, wrapping it as a temporary bandage around the wound to give it some support and keep it clean.

"We don't want it to go gangrenous." she muttered. Amie's eyes widened in horror.

"Not that it would." Sarah added hastily, quickly turning to look upon the next table with contempt. "Shit."

Amie smirked. "You know we could just look out one of the windows." she said smoothly.

Sarah rolled her eyes "Yeh so they can hide till I take the circle down and jump us? I don't think so." she moved to her side of the next upturned table. "Anyway I sort of…want to talk to them."

"You want to what?" her friend exclaimed in horror.

Sarah grunted as she tugged on the hard wood moving it inch by excruciating inch. "Well…you want …to know why their after Anna…don't you?"

"That's what Carl's for!" Amie hissed "He's the guy who tells us all what's going on, why take that away from him?"

Sarah grinned "Because I'm an impatient kinda girl." The table groaned as she managed to push it away from the door and across to rest on the wall the other side.

A chill breeze escaped the now bare door, making it seem little more than a flimsy worm ridden piece of wood rather than the one thing that hours before had stood between them and the raging dead horde.

The girls stepped back warily.

"Maybe we should go and wake Anna first?" Amie suggested hopefully.

Sarah swallowed. "No, we can do this, their just zombies and their probably gone by now."

Amie looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Just zombies? They nearly killed us last night and now their "Just zombies?"

Her friend smiled wryly. "Yeh, one good hit and their down…"

"Ready to get right back up as if nothing happened."

"Don't be such a pessimist."

Sarah stepped forwards her hand reaching back to release her sword from it's sheath, a pungent odour of rotting flesh made her choke as the blade came free. Amie held her nose glaring as her friend spotted the stains clinging to the once spotless and shining metal.

"Oh my god! He didn't even clean it!" She exclaimed in annoyance. She'd lent the blade to Tony the night before while she cast the circle and evidently he hadn't felt the need to wipe it down afterwards.

Amie mumbled something incoherently behind her hand and passed her a damp rag from the bar. Smirking as her friend scrubbed furiously. "You'd think Tony would know the value of a clean Katana."

As Sarah reached for the final bolt on the door Amie drew her own sword glancing hopefully back at the main stair as if Anna or some of the others would appear and talk Sarah out of this.

"Ready?" her friend whispered.

Amie glared at her "No."

With a rusty growl the bolt slid to the side, the door swinging outwards to reveal the dark field beyond and the black tree line. Another flurry of snow had fallen during the night making oddly shaped mounds where it had collected on some of the dead dispatched in the battle.

The girls drew together as the bitter wind tugged at their hair and clothes and the putrid smell of charred and rotting flesh assaulted their senses. Sarah heard Amie gag glancing back to see her swiftly tugging her simple woollen scarf over her mouth and nose.

"Do you see them?" the girl whispered glancing nervously around the door frame.

Sarah scanned the open ground her superior night sight penetrating the dark shadow of the inn and the darker places beneath the trees, her sight was not as acute as it had been as a vampire, then she had seen vivid colour as though she stood beneath the brightest sun in the depth of night. Now it was a though each object shone with it's own inner radiance, giving it an outline in the shadows and chasing them back.

Now she saw what Amie could not. The dead skulking in the dark shadow of the inn, they'd turned at the sound of voices and the soft crunch of the door turning out into the snow. She turned towards the trees and saw more shapes lingering there, sensing the coming dawn and preparing shallow graves for themselves where they would rest until the next evening.

"I see them." she whispered.

"Are they watching us?"

"Yep."

The girls shared a shudder as the soft crunch of snow being trampled under slow deliberate footsteps reached their ears approaching from the shadow of the inn. Sarah's chest tightened with sudden panic and she heard Amie's breathing becoming laboured behind her.

Reaching back she took her friends trembling hand. "It's ok the circle's still up they can't come close."

"How do you know the circle's still up?" said Amie small voice.

Sarah tried to swallow but found her throat uncomfortably dry, before she could answer something silver glinted at her from the shadows and the undertaker stepped forward carefully stopping at the perimeter of the unseen barrier.

"Because if it wasn't." she whispered back. "He'd have killed us already."

The undertaker grinned at the two girls and made to tip his trademark top hat to them thinking better of it when the stump of his severed arm only twitched weakly.

"That's gotta hurt." Sarah muttered coldly.

He shrugged awkwardly peering around them to catch a glimpse of the inn room beyond. "Why is it that the Princess didn't see fit to accompany you? Is she ill?" He asked hopefully "perhaps a stray sword cut? Or a dagger maybe!" he questioned gleefully practically bouncing with all the possibilities.

"She's just sleeping." Amie said impatiently.

The undertaker leered at her, the light from the door cast his face in shadow and she shrank back hovering in the doorway. "Are you sure?" He questioned excitedly "People tend to die suddenly you know, some aren't found for days just rotting in their beds." He actually chuckled his eyes peering from one window to another on the upper story of the building as though hoping to find Anna's room.

Sarah gritted her teeth forcing herself to stand her ground as the eager giggle froze her blood. "What does the Necromancer want?"

The Undertakers grin widened the rotting skin either side of his mouth splitting until the effect reached his cheek bones, black gore seeped from the wounds and a single maggot flopped to the ground. Sarah heard Amie vomit behind her and tried to stay steady though she swayed for a moment overcome with disgust.

"He wants you, he wants your friends and he wants the Princess." The undertaker hissed.

He stepped forward crashing against the perimeter of the circle. The resulting wave of energy made Sarah flinch but the circle stayed strong.

"What does he want us for?" She questioned her voice sounding strained and small even to her.

The undertakers eyes shone "Oh, oh no little girl I can't tell you that!" he laughed shaking his head. "no that would spoil it for you now wouldn't it?"

Sarah's sharp eyes caught the soft lightening of the trees to the east announcing the coming of the dawn. "It's getting past your bedtime."

The undertaker glanced across and noticed his fellow zombies busy digging temporary graves in the earth or scrambling back towards the trees for shelter from the sun.

Sarah smiled at his discomfort "Yeah that whole sun exposure things a bitch isn't it."

He smiled pleasantly at her "I'm sure you remember it well." he spat spitefully.

Sarah's smile faded at that. "Your master, he's nothing to us." she said boldly "He's just a man."

The Undertaker grinned "Just a man? Just a human, like you? Like your friends?" he laughed silkily.

"Cruentus cursus penetro vestra navis, sic quatenus obviam similis perfectus" he mumbled. Then he was gone, rushing away to the tree line his scythe abandoned on the ground.

"Blood runs through your veins, but that is where the similarity ends." Sarah jumped at the voice and turned to see Carl behind her his face haunted as he supported Amie and whispered his translation.

He gave Sarah a worried look before turning and helping Amie back into the inn. Sarah watched them go before turning to watch the first rays of sunlight break the horizon, the golden light painting the sky a vivid pink promising a better day than what had passed before. With a deep breath she turned and walked back into the inn Carl and Amie paused on the stairs to watch as she marched purposefully into the centre of the room.

She looked down upon the athame buried there and knelt freeing it from the earth with a forceful tug. Closing her eyes she raised it above her head seeing the circle around the inn, she turned it into golden light and swung the blade anti-clockwise, Widdershins around her head drawing the light back in and releasing the circle.

"The circle is open but unbroken." she whispered.

Bringing the blade to her breast she pointed the tip to the sky "As above." she muttered, then she turned the tip to the earth "So below." She untied the pentagram disk from the hilt pleased to feel the cool disk against her skin as she slipped the necklace around her throat.

Without a word she joined Carl and Amie on the stairs and dropped the knife into the friar's hands. He crossed himself hurriedly as the two girls wandered back to their beds.

Van Helsing sensed the dawn approaching as he stumbled on through the trees. The light would shine at his back in a few hours rising from the east. The thought gave him comfort as it always did, a sense that the nights work was almost complete creatures of darkness rarely ventured into the daylight. He'd come across a rusty dagger during the night and hurriedly trimmed his hair so that it hung in ragged locks just passed his ears. His facial hair had followed less smoothly patches of blood on his chin and throat making him long for a sharp clean blade.

He was still being pursued by the hell beast and had caught sight of it once or twice in the distance, but it seemed to be taking it's time hunting him. Perhaps wary of the rusty knife though he doubted it more likely the horse meat had slowed it down.

The moon had faded hours ago leaving him to scramble along in near total darkness other things than the hell hound stalked him in the night he'd even caught sight of a figure once walking awkwardly behind him. He'd longed to turn and face these foes to truly be Gabriel Van Helsing again, but it would have been foolish to die so soon after his escape. He could just imagine Anna's disapproving glare if she were to see him marching unarmed into the jaws of a hell hound. Never mind being torn apart by it's teeth she'd do more damage just by that look and the quick cut of her words.

He measured his life by her now, everything he did was for her he'd made that vow over and over in the dark of his cell and he was determined to keep it and not dying needlessly was part of that.

He dragged himself wearily from the trees and suddenly found himself on a cliff looking down at a deep valley. The forest stretched for miles in all directions the river a distant silver cutting through it. He glanced down gauging the drop to the waters below and trying to locate a sure way down though shadows disguised the drop in the dark.

Suddenly the trees at his back were alive with movement. Low groans echoed from the branches and the sudden crunch of earth underfoot reached him. Moving slowly he edged away from the drop his hand closing around a fallen tree branch, the other bringing the rusty dull blade to bare.

A man stumbled out of the foliage his arms raised before him reaching for the hunter. Van Helsing paused uncertainly until he noticed that the back of the creatures skull was missing and a good portion of his stomach. Organs hung from the gap in his abdomen swaying with each shuffling footstep.

"Well that's different." Gabriel muttered. He took up a stance about to deal with the zombie but then movement caught his eye to his left and another scrambled into view. A young woman in a flowery dress and dirty shoes her face partly caved in.

"And you brought a friend." Van Helsing muttered coldly.

More movement from the trees, he didn't want to guess how many were out there. The sun wouldn't rise for another hour, he didn't even know if it would affect these things.

As more appeared he flew into action, his rags flapping around him as he dove at the young man bringing the dagger down to tear open the rest of his skull. He brought the branch around breaking the creatures neck the wood snapping with the force of the impact.

Still the corpses arms reached for him and more were coming.

He kicked the first corpses legs from under him before spinning and hacking through the girl's neck. She'd barely fallen before elongated nails caught his hair and pulled him back. There were more than 20 of them around him. Ten held back waiting as the rest weakened him dragging him down only for him to rise back up hacking and tearing with his hands and blade like a wild animal he dreamt of his old sword and crossbow as he dispatched each one.

When they finally lay about him in the mud he glanced up ready for the others. They had surrounded him, more than thirty of them now their ranks four thick on all sides. His limbs ached but he readied himself for their next attack.

They stood staring at him, or in the case of one who had no eyes, in his general direction.

"Well?" he asked impatiently "What are you waiting for?"

They remained silent Van Helsing prepared himself to rush forward and fight his way free but then the sound of approaching footsteps reached him. The nearest ranks parted silently and the hell hound stalked forward it's eyes red and glowing in the dark as it beheld him standing there. The blood of the horse still stained it's jaws but it did not attack. It sat like a tame mongrel as it's master appeared behind it, a figure in a dark cloak the hood pulled up to hide the face of the wearer.

"They wait for me, Mr. Van Helsing." The man muttered casually from beneath his hood.

Gabriel straightened keeping the dull dagger in plain sight as he regarded the stranger. "An who might you be?" he enquired still scanning the corpses for any weaknesses.

The hooded man cocked his head to the side and a small chuckle rose from the dark depths of the hood. "Ahh yes, I forget you have been out of the loop for quite a while now." he sighed placing a pale hand on the head of the hell hound sitting patiently like a great bear by his side.  
"Very well I will introduce myself."

Gabriel rolled his eyes tiredly "Please don't bow."

The stranger chuckled again "I wasn't about to I'm not as melodramatic as your old friend Dracula."

Van Helsing nodded in the direction of the zombies "This isn't melodramatic?"

The stranger ignored him "I am called the Necromancer." he exclaimed with an air of pride. "and I am hear to see that justice is done."

Van Helsing frowned "Justice? What justice?"

"Why the return of a wanted man to his cell. The world will be disappointed if Gabriel Van Helsing does not hang. After all the trouble your captors went through to get you in the first place."

The Hunter glared at the Necromancer in sudden comprehension. "It was you! You're the reason they caught me!"

The Necromancer did bow then, a slight bend of the head in acknowledgment though he said nothing.

Van Helsing took in his predicament with a neutral glance watching as more zombies joined those already gathered, his heaving chest the only indication of his exhaustion and desperation.

"Why don't you just kill me? Seems a little odd that you would wait for the hang-man to do his work."

The hood shifted slightly a sliver of light from the moon illuminating the maddeningly amused smile playing across thin bloodless lips the rest of the face still obscured by shadow.

"You'll forgive me but I have a rather obscene liking for irony." the Necromancer hissed.

"Really? Well then I'll be sure to think up an ironic way to kill you." Van Helsing countered shifting his weight slightly. A ripple went through the gathered dead at his movement but they remained obediently still.

The Necromancer said nothing merely raised his hand flicking his fingers casually to the side. The dead parted tripping unsteadily as they allowed the crouched and hobbling figure of Igor to shuffle between them. The stooped man cowered slightly as the hunter's gaze fell on him but his smug look never left his face.

"I wondered what had become of you." Van Helsing greeted him, the warmth in his voice belayed by the cold glare of his eyes.

The repulsive man grinned manically gesturing towards the hooded form of the Necromancer. "I gained new employment."

A glint of metal caught the hunter's eyes and they found the silver delivery tube in the cripples slimy grasp. It was virtually identical to the one he himself had used on many occasions, of course this one had seen better days. Mud obscured the cross imbedded in the soft metal, the mark of the holy order.

For the first time the hunter's carefully neutral expression faulted. He frowned deeply concerned and indicated to the weapon. "Where did you get that?" he asked coldly.

Igor's manic grin grew wider as Van Helsing looked between him and his master in obvious confusion. As the hunter finally took a menacing step towards Igor he released a quick succession of darts, watching with deep satisfaction as the hunter tried and failed to block them all.

Gabriel grunted as he felt several hit their mark stinging as they penetrated the skin of his chest and throat releasing the drugs they contained. He staggered a few steps turning to face the Necromancer one last time. He held the man's gaze for a moment before his eyes turned irresistibly towards the west his mind in a village across the sea and the manor that contained the family he had come so close to seeing again.

The Necromancer watched dispassionately as Van Helsing slumped to the floor clinging desperately to consciousness. Suddenly the sound of thundering hooves reached his ears, Igor glanced up from the fallen hunter in confusion to see his hooded master vanish the hell hound at his side. He opened his mouth in shock as the nearest zombie suddenly exploded in a cloud of gore and smoke revealing a rider bearing down on the gathering, his sword and gun catching the light from the moon.

Van Helsing took advantage of the distraction. Digging into his last reserves of strength he launched himself off the ground and staggered the few feet to the end of the cliff. Igor's enraged cry and the sounds of the rider followed him as he threw himself off plummeting down until he hit the water and everything went dark.

Note: Aren't I mean another cliffy for you all :D Hope this chapter was a little more satisfying than the last, tis hard to type a story when you mum keeps yelling at you to eat or wash up.

Don't forget to review! 


	25. A painted ship

Cittygurl: Yay another new reviewer! Glad you liked my first story hope you like this one too!

Unseen moon: glad your enjoying it

Catlover15489: sorry about the waiting my lifes gone pretty crazy lately, in a good way though :D I started working in a haunted castle afew months ago so kinda living my stories abit lol never seem to have the time to just sit down and write. hugs love that you reviewed every single chapter of my first story lol I know I keep saying it but it was just fantastic!

Fortune Zyn: Nice that your still following this

XtheXpowerXofXtheXmusic: So many new people this is great! Yay and Sarah has a fan!

JeanieBeanie33: Sorry of the lack of Drac he'll turn up again

ChristineMarquez: here's the promised update

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 25

The corpse stared at the sun, it's eyes milky and unseeing it's torso buried in thick snow. The limbs were scattered around, little more than strange shapes under the white blanket that had fallen in the few hours following the dawn.

Carl stepped carefully over these wincing as something gave way under foot. He kept his eyes focused on the poor soul before him, the eyes looked back at him as he knelt over it, unseeing and soulless.  
Shivering slightly, unsure whether it was due to the cold, he crossed himself and passed his hand over the eyes closing them in final death. "Requiescat in pace ultima." he muttered tracing a cross over the forehead.

With a sigh he stood and stepped back. The three village men who had been waiting patiently came forward, two of them dragging a wooden cart piled high with partially decomposing bodies. Carl didn't stay to watch them retrieve the last one.

Jory watched as the Friar began to make his way back to the inn, his breath misting up the cold glass of the window. "What's he saying?" he asked loudly turning to look back at Anna who was humming quietly to baby Velkan.

"Who?"

"Carl, he keeps touching them and muttering something before their burned."

Anna glanced up "Requiescat in pace ultima…it means 'Rest in final peace.' It's what Gabriel used to say. One final blessing before the soul was taken."

Jory tried hard not to smirk, he was an atheist, anything religious was completely lost on him. "Rest in final peace? Hope they do this time."

The inn had gradually emptied as the sun had risen, by mid morning only a few of the men had stayed to dispose of the bodies. By the time Carl stepped back in shivering everyone was up and picking tentatively at the strange grey mixture a barmaid had proudly called "breakfast".

Sarah stared in disbelief as Tony immediately started to shovel the grey matter into his mouth.

"I think mine's alive." Marston muttered picking up his bowl and poking it suspiciously with the tip of his spoon as though expecting the slush to screech indignantly at him.

Amie sniffed her's cautiously. "Do you think it's suitable for vegetarians?" 

Jory grinned "Don't know maybe you should ask if you can read the packaging."

"It's called Mamaliga" Anna supplied grinning Velkan sitting in her lap leaning back so that he could look wide eyed around the group. "I suggest you get used to it we'll be eating little else on the ship."

Sometime later they were getting the horses ready Sarah groaned at the thought of getting back into the saddle.

Amie laughed watching her friend eyeing her mare suspiciously. "She's not going to trust you if you don't trust her." she said helpfully.

Tony laughed "The evil Verona horse? I wouldn't ride her."

"That really helps Tony thanks." Sarah muttered sarcastically, tentatively patting her horses neck as she adjusted the stirrups.

"Well I've named my horse what are you calling yours?" she asked smiling at Amie whose eyes suddenly lit up.

"Ohhh Jet! No wait Sparkles! No princess!"

Jory smirked "I'll call mine mother-fucking-horse."

Amie glared at him in shock. "Jory! Don't swear in front of Velkan, babies learn really fast."

Jory grinned and walked up to Carl who had Velkan in his arms. "Don't learn from my English." he told the giggling infant sternly. Velkan babbled at him flashing him a gummy smile.

Bob did his last checks on his horse tightening the saddle and tugging on the stirrups, satisfied that everything was secure he turned to check on the others.

"Oh crap here comes the mafia." he hissed silently to Sarah. She followed his line of sight and spotted the Inn Keeper stalking across the snow towards them four or five of the larger village men flanking him.

"No fighting." She hissed at Bob.

His eyebrows raised "Hey we didn't start that they were the ones who…!"

Anna stepped in front of him cutting him off with a look as the group of men stopped before them. Marston and Tony hurried forward while Carl managed to slip to the back of the group.

Their was a tense moment before one of the village men leant forward and whispered something in Romanian to the keeper. The Plump man's face reddened, he cleared his throat and stepped forward.  
He turned and glowered back at the group of men behind him before bowing low before the Princess.

"We are in the debt of the Valerius family I ask no payment for the rooms you have taken and the food you have eaten…on the grounds that on your return…you will not set foot in my Inn if the Dhampir still accompanies you." he turned sharply to glare at the men daring them to contradict these terms but they remained silent shifting uncomfortably.

"And who do you call Dhampir?" Anna asked her tone hard. The Inn keeper's gaze shifted until it fell on Sarah who did her best to seem unconcerned though her cheeks burned with self-conscious embarrassment.

"She is Dhampir, a half blood, the spawn of a vampire." the inn keeper hissed spitting on the ground in disgust at the mere sight of her.

Sarah frowned "Ok now I find that more than a little insulting, I'm no ones spawn…" she thought for a minute "Other than my mother's."

Anna motioned to her to keep silent. Turning to the keeper she said "We accept your terms, thank you for your …hospitality."

Tony snorted at that but the keeper seemed unconcerned, a few more words passed between them before the villagers hurried off to prepare the village defences for the night.

Anna sighed "You certainly make life interesting." she muttered smiling at her young friends.

Sarah grinned back shrugging "well who cares if he doesn't like me, It's not like I was looking to be his bestest friend or anything."

"Yes, well it wouldn't hurt to have a few more friends around." Carl said seriously.

Passing the baby into Anna's arms and walking back to the horses he climbed purposely on to his mount "Either way we have a ship to catch and the cardinal is expecting us."

Anna turned sharply eyeing the friar suspiciously. "What do you mean he's expecting us? I sent no message."

Carl turned slightly pink "Well…er.. I took the liberty of announcing our intended arrival…was that wrong?"

"Oh bloody perfect." Marston exclaimed glaring at the Friar "So whoever's getting their weaponry from the Vatican will know that we're coming, nice one Carl."

The poor Friar's eyes grew wide as he was suddenly confronted by several pissed off teenagers. "I was only trying to help." he mumbled.

They moved out soon after, a caravan of dark Romanian mare's lead by Anna's stallion pausing only once so Anna could whisper a prayer as the bodies of the fallen were consumed by a pyre. The smell and the smoke clung to their clothes and tainted the air as they turned their backs on the small village and headed for the small harbour on the coast.

Dracula watched from the shadows as Anna led her companions across the fields. Sarah's laughter carried to him on the breeze as she drew her horse between Marston's and Tony's finally relaxing after a night of hurt and terror. He'd toyed with the idea of showing himself too her this morning, a little fun for himself to pass the time, but was content merely to observe from afar for the time being. She'd grown so much in the year since he'd passed on, there was a new confidence in the way she moved, a new clarity to her thoughts. She was a woman now, not a girl playing at independence. He liked to think he'd caused that to happen, that he'd helped her grow into the woman she was now.

Shaking his head he turned away and suddenly he wasn't in the field anymore. The woods and the inn had vanished, the smoke and smell of the pyre a memory. Now he stood upon a hill top bathed in sunlight. Here the snow was well trodden, body parts rotted far from their torso's and the smell of fresh blood blew on the wind.

Dracula glanced around almost lazily eyeing the tracks and scratches with only mild concern as he stalked towards the edge of the cliff. Far below a river snaked it's way through the valley, it's waters swollen with melted snow.

He stepped off the edge and floated down on the breeze. His eyes watched as day shifted tonight and he saw Van Helsing tumble towards the water, little more than a rag tossed and turned by the breeze until he crashed into the water.

Daylight returned and he continued his casual journey following the river's meandering path. "Gabriel." he called almost singing "oh Gabriel-."

A tiny spark of awareness brushed his mind suddenly and he stopped glancing around with a smirk on his ghostly mouth. He spotted the rider among the dense trees along the bank, the chestnut stallion walking along side him as they battled warily through the undergrowth.

Dracula chuckled to himself suddenly sending himself beside the young man his footsteps echoing un-naturally along side horse and rider. Both stopped abruptly, the horse snorted, snapping it's foot in agitation while the young man's hard gaze scrutinised the trees around them.

"Hush Quincy, it's only a squirrel." he muttered patting the horse reassuringly.

Dracula watched as they continued satisfied that the rider at least could sense something of him.

"Your going the wrong way." he whispered using some of his old powers to subtly influence the young man's mind. The rider paused again looking first forward and then to the side unsure of the route he was taking.

Dracula drifted in close, noticing the man shiver with a sudden chill. "You want to go to the fallen tree, bear left towards the river." he instructed in his singsong voice.

Without ever knowing why, the young man mounted his horse and veered to the left the horse pushing through the foliage with new vigour eager to leave behind the ghostly shadow that hovered over his master.

Dracula watched until they reached the tree and discovered the man in rags that lay beneath it half drowned.

He stayed long enough to hear the young man's surprised exclamation. "Van Helsing! Gabriel can you hear me? Van Helsing!"

The wind was blowing from the west carrying with it the tangy scent of the sea and the more unpleasant stench of rotting sea weed. Though the small group wrinkled their noses in displeasure none could deny that it was almost a relief to smell something other than the rotting and burning corpses that had seemed ever present the last few days.

A brisk wind picked up as the horses rounded the cove whipping the falling snow into a new frenzy.  
Sarah's horse tossed its head still nervous under it's mistress' inexperienced hand.

The girl cried out in surprise as it pranced beneath her and began to back up sharply on the narrow road. Jory hurried up beside her on his own mount and drew the horses close taking the reins for the moment it took to calm the beast.

Sarah shouted her thanks over the wind drawing her hood up around her ears to spare them from the biting cold. Every part of her ached from the few hours of riding and the battle of the night before, her friends were faring worse. Jory's face was pale despite the cold, the usual rosy tinge to his cheeks noticeably absent following the wound to his head the bandage visible beneath the hood of his travelling cloak. Still, he hadn't uttered a word of complaint even turning Amie's offer of Aspirin down.

"It's only a headache."

Amie had laughed that off as she thrust the small box of tablets towards him ignoring Carl who was trying to snatch the simple item from her fingers, his eyes wild with wonder and curiosity. But Jory refused once again.

"We're gonna be great mothers Sarah," Amie joked when she'd finally given up. "Every tiny thing our children get it'll be 'here take the drugs!"

They'd been lucky that Jory's injury was as serious as they got. Though Tony limped slightly on his right leg and Amie forced Bob to hug her from the right to avoid the gash in her left arm, they remained determinedly cheerful. They laughed into the wind and snow that was stripping the skin on their faces raw.

The promise of Rome hung over them all as the rolling waves of the Adriatic sea came into sight and the small port village materialised out of the blizzard. The wind lessoned to a bearable breeze and the snow stopped as they made their way towards the single ship that was resting somewhat clumsily against the small wooden dock.

"There's the ship." Anna called back along the line. Sarah watched grinning as the Princess spurned her horse forwards into a lazy trot and her hair streamed back in the wind.

"She's seems happier today." she muttered trying to keep her own horse steady with the difficulty of a novice rider.

Amie smiled riding up beside her and leaning over to change the girl's awkward grip on the reins. "Of course she is, she's finally doing something to find Van Helsing."

Tony snorted from just a head eyeing the ship in the docks doubtfully. "She calls that a ship? It's barely a dingy, there's no-way we can fit on that with the horses."

Amie shot the ship a fearful glance her eyes widening in disbelief.

"We're not going on that! I would never get on a boat like that! How are you going to get me on it? Are there narcotics on board?"

Sarah shivered as she examined the boat and found that Tony was right. Made almost entirely out of wood, the sound of the creaking timbers echoed with each wave that touched it's body. It was barely 20 meters from stern to aft and most of the deck was taken over by the small cabin that housed the helm.

The teens waited patiently beside the horses while Anna negotiated with the captain. Sarah shivered in the shadow of the vessel making her horse whinny nervously at her side.

"I don't like boats." she mumbled to Tony who was sitting on the snow.

The boy laughed aloud "That another witchy thing? Can't you cross running water or something?"

"No, I just prefer to be under the water than on top of it." she said eyeing the waves.

"Why's that?" asked Jory curiously.

Sarah shrugged "I like being able to see what's under me."

Marston let out a burst of laughter at that so she threw a small snow ball at him "Get your head out of the gutter you know what I meant!"

Bob held Amie close casting his eyes out over the sea before them "You know this is the first time we've all been away since we were in Cornwall last year."

Amie nodded "Yeah 'cept Chris was with us then…I miss Chris, do you think he's home yet?"

Marston shrugged "He said about a week so he still has a coupl'a days."

Sarah sighed "Bet he's worried about us, did anyone tell him we were going?"

"I tried to call but his phone was off." Bob supplied quickly.

"It feels weird without him." Jory mumbled "like, you can actually feel someone's missing."

"At least you know he's safe." Carl added solemnly wandering past them to see to one of the horses.

Bob grinned evilly looking at Sarah "yeah cuz you and the sea Sarah." Amie and Jory laughed.

Tony and Marston exchanged a confused look, they'd both missed out on the Cornwall trip for various reasons.

"What about Sarah and the sea?" Tony asked his eyes flashing with the possibility of new ammunition to use against his friend.

Jory laughed "Sarah popped out of her bikini! There was this huge wave and she jumped into it and when she came up her boob was just hanging out there!"

"Chris got a real eyeful." Bob agreed laughing along while Sarah did her best to hide her head in her hands in shame.

Amie smiled at her patiently "Yeah Sarah that's why you don't dive into a wave in your bikini."

Tony was rolling around now while Marston grinned at Sarah who groaned loudly. "Why do I always do the humiliating stuff?" she asked her feet.

"It's your function in the group." Amie supplied helpfully.

Bob laughed "Jory's is to make funny noises."

Amie snuggled against her boyfriend "What's mine?"

Bob smiled down at her "to be the best person ever." he said in a sickly sweet voice. Amie kissed him as a reward while the rest looked on in disgust. Bob pulled away looking around at them all smugly oblivious to the small sliver of drool on his lip.  
Sarah smirked gesturing to his mouth "You've got a lil something there."

He merely replied "It's love."

Amie turned on Tony who was making exaggerated gagging noises. "Your function is hobo." she informed him smoothly.

Anna smiled as she approached the group Velkan fast asleep in her arms, she could see how much of a family they were and now she was one step closer to having her own family back together once more.

"There is room on board. Five hands, two mates, the cook and the captain, I hope you don't mind sleeping on deck." she announced as she crouched next to Marston.

Amie could only gape at her in disbelief, Bob lifted his shell shocked girl friend to her feet "Come on honey if you can camp you can sleep on a ship." he reassured her.

The Captain, an old man with a greying beard and greasy hair, was waiting for them as they lead their confused horses up the gang way and on to the wooden deck.

"Welcome aboard the Demeter!" he announced loudly.

Sarah looked at him sharply her heart growing cold suddenly. "The…the Demeter?"

The Captain smiled at her "Aye, she be the ship and I daresay she'll treat you civil while your part of her crew." he chuckled to himself and wandered away.

The Demeter, the ship from Bram Stokers novel. Sarah glanced up as the sails creaked ominously above them, the cries of the seabirds seemed to take on a more sinister tone. She could picture the scene, imagine the crew working around her, vanishing one by one, and the captain…the captain was…

"Sarah?"

She nearly screamed but caught herself in time to only utter a strangled squeak. Tony stared at her liked she'd grown a second head.

Marston smiled at her his tone reassuring "Don't worry boats are good things, they hardly sink."

"I'm not worried about it sinking." she muttered glancing around and spotting Dracula perched like a dark figure head at the prow watching her as she followed the others.

They cast off in good spirits, though Sarah watched the land fade into the mist with a knot of panic in her stomach.

"Argh I hate boats, and water, and birds!" Amie complained loudly leaning next to her on the railing.

She smiled "you hate everything unless it's a five star hotel in the South of France with a huge beach and a plug for your straightners."

Amie laughed "You know me to well."

Both girls jumped when Carl suddenly raced between them, throwing himself at the railing. Hauling himself half over he promptly lost his lunch over the side.

"EWWW Carl!" they both screeched jumping away as fast as they could.

He turned to them looking distinctly green around the cheeks. "Sorry…I don't cough do well…on boats."

Sarah groaned leading Amie to the other side of the ship. "This is going to be a long trip." she muttered.

Night fell and the ship grew quiet, the crew disappeared below deck leaving the group to bed down on their bedrolls on the damp deck.

Sarah lay listening to the ship, trying and failing not to think of the Dracula novel and the fate of the Demeter. Dracula had travelled on that ship to England, feeding off the crew one by one until only the first mate and the Captain remained. He ship had crashed into harbour and the police had discovered the captain tied to the helm, his hands nailed to the wheel of the ship and his dead body staring in absolute horror.

She closed her eyes and tried to shift her position but found that the hard wood made her own bones painful to lie on. Giving up she stood and wondered over to the railing watching the waves roll dark beneath the bow of the ship. The creaks of the timber made her glance up at the mast, she watched as one rope swung freely in the wind coiling to resemble a hangman's noose in the breeze. How many days did Van Helsing have left? She wondered shivering. Dracula had said 20 days, that had been three days ago, it felt like a lifetime. She hadn't told Anna what she knew, how could she? How could she have told her that her husband was waiting to die? A small voice at the back of her mind told her it was better to know that than to know nothing at all.

She sighed rubbing her eyes to try and ease the tension behind them, a small noise made her look up and she saw Marston uncurling from his bedroll. He gave her a small smile before joining her.

"Can't sleep?" she whispered.

He shook his head "Nope you?"

She gave him a look and he chuckled softly both transported back to a similar meeting in the early hours of the morning back at Valerius manor over a year ago. The last time they'd spoken before she tried to end it all.

For a while neither spoke, lost in half forgotten memories.

The ships timbers creaked suddenly and the moon appeared touching the dark waves around them with silver light.

"As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean." Sarah muttered.

Marston smiled "I like that."

"You wouldn't if you knew what it was from."

"What is it from?"

"Bram Stoker's Dracula."

He chuckled "I think you need to find a different novel to pass the time, re-read Lord of the Rings or something healthy like that."

She smiled "Yeah maybe I should."

They stood in companionable silence for a moment, feeling the movement of the ship beneath their feet. Marston glanced at her only to find her watching him a distant look in her eyes. "What? Have I got something on my face?" he worried.

"No, I just…" she paused to really look at him "Actually yeah, you do have something!" with a laugh she reached forward and tugged on the small beard that had materialised without her noticing.

Marston grinned proudly. "Yep, I've got the manly facial hair going on. Bob was trying to shave with his dagger the other day but I thought 'fuck it' I'll grow me some manly hair."

"Looks good, I like it." she agreed.

"But it's not what you meant before?" he asked.

She smiled wistfully. "Remember when we first met in the common room, and we used to talk a lot and then we didn't see each other for a while? Well I just got a flash back of me sitting alone on the chairs and you coming in, seeing me and rushing over to give me a big hug with this huge grin on your face saying "Sarah! I haven't talked to you in ages!"

Marston looked bemused. "Really? Wow, can't remember that, but it sounds like me."

Sarah smiled "I remember it…thanks for that even if you can't remember it, it means a lot to me."

Marston "S'okay, I cant really remember a lot from sixth form, only the crazy bits, such as the chi chi book and such like."

He gazes out at the ocean and turns to smile at her "But yeah, I can imagine me doing it."

A shout from across the deck made them turn in alarm. "Kill the ninjas!" Bob yelled out in his sleep, leaping to his feet.

He glanced around confused for a moment his eyes locking on to his friends. To their amusement he nodded at them "that's true." he announced before slowly sitting down and laying back on his bedroll. After a few minutes his snoring sounded clearly once more.

Sarah and Marston fought to keep their laughter silent shaking with the effort. "How does Amie sleep next to him? He'd drive me mad!" she whispered.

"That's love for you, you realise when they get married Chris is going to be best man?"

"So what does that make you?"

"Nothing, but it means I'm a shoe in for Godfather at the christening."

Sarah laughed "Same here Amie's sister will be maid of honour, I might just slip in there with bridesmaid but think I'll be content as godmother."

"Do you think Bob will pop the question soon?"

"I don't know he has this whole schedule planned. He's gonna propose when their 21, then have a two year engagement and get married when their 24, then the first child's due when their 25."

"Nice."

Sarah shrugged "Not exactly romantic and spontaneous though is it?"

Marston grinned "Yeah cuz your marriage was." he teased.

Sarah laughed "We weren't married he just killed me."

"Which is a lasting matrimonial bond to vampires." Marston added seriously.

To Sarah's annoyance Dracula melted out of the darkness behind Marston. "He's right you know." he said smugly.

"You know the fact that your husband was a bloodsucking fiend goes over well as a metaphor for married life." Marston said before she could respond.

"You'd think that after a year you'd have run out of comments like that." she muttered darkly.

Her friend grinned "It'll take another two at least."

Dracula stepped closer pressing intimately close to Marston and brushing a hand down the boy's cheek. Marston shivered pulling his cloak tighter around himself and looking suddenly uneasy.

"Why don't you tell him about me Sarah?" Dracula whispered seductively. "I think he'd find it interesting, he might be a little uncomfortable at first but I'm sure that would pass." he grinned exposing the sharp fangs. The mere sight of them made the old scars on her throat tingle.

"You ok?" Marston was asking looking at her in concern.

Sarah swallowed "It's just…" Did she dare tell him? Would he understand? Could he help? "The vampire thing…we've never really talked about it."

"Do you want to? I didn't think you would."

"I need too. We've all spent a year joking about it like it was a game we played."

Marston's eyes clouded he reached out and gently pushed her hair away from the side of her throat exposing the scars of Dracula's bite. "Do you still dream about it?" he asked carefully. "Amie says you were screaming in your sleep last night."

Sarah hung her head. "Nightmare's, I've had them almost every night since we got home. But being here makes it all come back, it's like…it's like Dracula's still here with me, I'll turn around and he'll be standing there." she looked up staring right into the Count's ghostly face. Marston looked thoughtful for a moment.

"He's dead Sarah, he can't hurt you anymore…unless you want him too." he added with a wicked twinkle to his eye.

Sarah looked at him suspiciously. "What are you getting at?"

"Yes, what indeed?" Dracula asked walking smartly around to stand by her side and face Marston.

Marston grinned "Well, smart, handsome, poetic guy, bit of a bad boy there must be at least some weird fascination with him. Plus you've always had this thing for him and vampire novels, their all over your house."

Suddenly serious he met her gaze and held it, sympathy and understanding making her suddenly feel vulnerable and emotional. "It's ok you know, if you've imagined what it would have been like to stay with him. No worries, no responsibilities except to him…you could have lived forever. It's ok if part of you wanted that."

Sarah opened her mouth to answer but hesitated as she felt Dracula's gaze on her and the chill as he leant in to hear her response. Concentrating hard she put a barrier of shinning light around herself and Marston sensing his irritation as he found himself cast away from her.

Sure he was gone she gave her reply. "I thought about it, I've fantasized about it." she confessed. "but you know me better than that, there's nothing that makes me happier than being with you and Amie, Bob, Tony, Jory and Chris, my whole family. An immortal life means nothing to me if you lot weren't in it and I couldn't have lived watching you all die around me whether I was the one who killed you or you died of old age."

Marston grinned broadly, pulling her into a tight hug he chuckled against her hair "But come on, he had to have been heavily into bondage all that leather." Sarah laughed pulling away to mock scowl at the boy in front of her. "We're having a moment and you lower the tone, typical."

They talked for a while longer until the sky began to lighten in the east, making their way back to their bedrolls both slept fitfully until the morning bell roused them for the day.

Note: Will try and update again in the next week more Van Helsingness to come promise!  
Blessed Yule! 


	26. Harker

Hey! You've probably all forgotten about me cuz it's been, what? Three months since my last update? Sorry about that I had the Berlin wall of writers blocks! But don't worry it's being slowly torn down brick by brick and the plot bunnies are escaping!

Ri : thanks for reading! Sorry I haven't added more for you!

Marston: Sorry your not overly active in this one but don't worry you'll be getting more page time soon!

Anett : Velkan is Gabriel's son the whole "drac father thing" was just a stupid joke from Jory and Marston (they make a lot of those when they get together in real life we just grin and nod usually)

Christine Marquez: Yes I updated, try not to faint

Fortune Zyne: thanks for sticking round through this story hope your still here!

Jeaniebeanie33: Glad you like the Marston/Sarahness!

Agains sorry for the lateness, first it was Christmas holding me back, then work then the mass of birthdays that swarm all over jan and feb! Nightmare!

Will try and update at least once a fortnight! Any way without further adieu here's chapter 26!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 26

Van Helsing drifted back to consciousness climbing towards the distant sound of a fire crackling merrily nearby, his head pounded and he wondered how much he'd drank the night before and how mad Anna would be. He saw her perfectly looking down on him, turned towards him as much as her very pregnant body would allow, one amused eyebrow raised.

"Anna." he whispered allowing his eyes to flutter open.

The light made him wince and a sharp stab of pain shot between his eyes. All at once he could feel the ground cold and hard beneath him and his clothes clinging wetly to his skin. Trapped slit from the river bed rubbed mercilessly against his sore flesh biting at the lacerated skin on his back.

He groaned loudly dragging his aching body into a sitting position.

"Morning Gabriel."

Van Helsing started violently, his hand shot automatically to the pistol at his side and grasped nothing but damp air. He barely registered it's absence before he moved fluidly forward to grasp a nearby tree branch bringing it around in a fatal swing. There was a deafening crack and the stick shuddered as it impacted the strong steel of a large broadsword reducing it to nothing but splinters. Van Helsing blinked as his unexpected companion bust into peels of familiar laughter. Slowly the shadows fell from his vision and he found himself staring in frank astonishment at the man before him.

Short black hair fell messily over a pale forehead and rested lightly at the base of his neck barely concealing two familiar puncture scars.

At last Van Helsing found his voice.

"Harker?"

The handsome man lowered his sword, a delighted grin appearing on his face "ah so that pesky amnesia of yours doesn't extend to old acquaintances?"

Van Helsing smiled for the first time in too long. "Hardly just acquaintances Harker." He reached out to clasp his friend's hand but thought better of it as his wounds flared.

"Well if anyone else had seen me grow from a bouncy baby into the strapping lad I am today, they would have stopped calling me Harker and at least called me Jonathon." Harker stated teasingly though his eyes flashed with concern as Van Helsing grimaced in pain. He politely turned his back and tended to the fire as the hunter settled once more into a sitting position hissing and cursing with each movement.

"What brings you here Harker? You haven't ventured out from England since…" Van Helsing trailed off as Harker stiffened. The young man kept his back to his friend as he busied himself with the pot hanging above the flames.

"…since Mina you mean?" he asked quietly.

Van Helsing said nothing though he noted the way Jonathon unconsciously brushed the pale puncture scars on his throat. For a moment the hunter had a flash of a young woman kneeling in his place, her blond hair hanging like a curtain around her face as her fingers traced those same scars in her own throat.

Harker took the pot off the fire and carried it over to Van Helsing's side, the hunter wrinkled his nose as the strong aroma of boiling mugwort and aloe assaulted his senses. He sat quietly while Harker soaked some clean rags in the mixture and began to clean and bandage his many wounds.

"I thought you were dead, the German's have been spreading a rather graphic description of your hanging." he muttered as he worked.

Van Helsing snorted "Well it appears that rumours of my death are greatly exaggerated."

"They wouldn't be if I hadn't dragged you out of the river."

Harker went back to the fire and picked up a saddle bag which he threw in Van Helsing's direction. The hunter glanced inside and smiled in satisfaction as he found a pair of riding trousers and a shirt. "I don't suppose you have a coat and hat to go with these?" he asked hopefully.

Harker grinned and took off his own long coat throwing it across the fire. "That'll have to do but I'm afraid I can't help you with the hat, an English gentleman would never wear such a thing."

Van Helsing pulled on the clothes relieved to be wearing something clean and a warm. He shrugged into the coat and felt the comforting weight of it on his back. Give him a crossbow and it would have felt like he'd come home.

"Well I've never been much of a gentleman so we'll have to do something about the hat later."

Van Helsing frowned at the man before him. "You don't seem overly surprised that you just happened to find me."

The young man grinned "Remember the middle east? Crocodile headed gods and flesh eating beetles."

"Mummies." Van Helsing added dryly.

Harker smiled. "You appeared on top of that sphinx just in time to stop me falling to a messy end. On top of the Sphinx Gabriel! I'd been missing for weeks. I learned long ago that you always appear when I least expect you, so now I always expect you, that way I'm never surprised."

Van Helsing smiled "and I'm glad of that."

The young man settled opposite him beside the fire his expression serious. "The Cardinal didn't know where you were being held, had he even heard a rumour he would have-"

"Left me to die anyway." Van Helsing finished coldly.

Harker sighed and produced a fresh loaf of bread and an apple handing them to his friend. "Do you really believe the Vatican is so corrupt? Casualties are expected in times of war Gabriel."

"Not when they can be prevented."

"To jeopardise the secrecy of the order would destroy everything we have worked for!" Harker's eyes were sorrowful "You know what people like us have to sacrifice for that. If I had…if I'd kept that confidence from Mina she might still be alive today."

"Mina fell prey to a vampire John. The way I heard it she saved her young friend Lucy thanks to the things you taught her."

Harker smiled sadly "So when we talk about Mina I'm John am I?"

Van Helsing smiled "I'll call you what I like when I like boy, and don't you forget it."

Harker sighed prodding the flames of the fire pensively. "Yes Lucy lived…but Mina - I should never have dragged her into our war. Don't you regret bringing your wife into this?"

Van Helsing smiled "Anna was born into this."

"You'll be going back to her then?"

"We have a child Harker and I want to meet that child, I want to meet my family at last."

Harker smiled staring into the flames "Mina wanted children one day...I wasn't exaggerating Gabriel when I said we are in a war. Things have been happening, impossible things."

Van Helsing nodded seriously. "The dead are rising."

"And that's not the half of it! All over Europe there have been hell-hound attacks, wraiths, possessions, werewolves and demons walk the night."

"And one man conjures them."

Harker stared up at the darkening sky and sighed. "The Necromancer."

"We've met…"

Harker looked back across the fire in surprise but Van Helsing's gaze was to the west and the last rays of the sun. "Have you heard anything of Transylvania? Has Carl been in contact with the Vatican?"

Harker closed his eyes briefly needing to collect his thoughts. Van Helsing watched him closely. "There's been no word from Vaseria, not since last week. Locals from the nearest villages reported an army of the dead covering the forests, if they were being drawn to Dracula's domain for some reason they would have reached it days ago."

Van Helsing looked back to the fire. "Gabriel, if they took the village…the last report from the region said that survivors are rare…there's a chance that…"

"Their alive."

"Gabriel I don't think-"

The hunter glared at him "Anna and Carl know how to take care of themselves."

Harker sighed patting his horse on the neck as he removed it's saddle and bags carrying two bed rolls back to the fireside. "Well if you believe that then I'll travel back with you, but first we need to get to Rome."

Gabriel took the roll, his expression bitter. "I cut my ties with the Vatican months ago, I owe the Cardinal nothing."

"The Cardinal saw you as a son Gabriel. At the very least you need weapons."

Gabriel snorted "From what I've seen the Vatican's been too free with it's weapons recently."

"Will you come to Rome?"

The hunter sighed staring into the distance his thoughts as ever on his wife.

"It's on the way." Harker prompted a small knowing smile on his face. "From Italy you can sail the Adriatic and rush home to your lady. One more day Gabriel, it's all I ask."

It was faint at first but then it grew louder and clearer until the night echoed with the shrill ringing. Sarah jumped from under her blanket snatching her sword up. Anna was already on her feet scanning the dark ship warily.

Tony was beside her with his own sword and Sarah could just make out Marston and Amie beyond him staring fearfully at the riggings. The shrill sound stopped abruptly making the silence press in upon them.

"What the hell was that?" Anna hissed angrily staring at the ocean as though she expected the Necromancer himself to appear from the depths.

"Magic?" Carl whispered. Sarah turned and hid her smile when she found him staring out from under his blanket.

Tony frowned "You know it almost sounded like…"

"A phone." They all turned to find Jory staring at Bob in amazement. The boy was sitting in his blanket staring in astonishment at the small mobile phone in his hands. He looked up and stared round the group holding the phone out to face them.

"It…I didn't even know I had it and it…rang…but it can't can it?"

Anna hung back warily as the group crowded round to stare at the glowing blue screen. "1 missed call from Chris." blinked back at them cheerfully.

Bob was holding the phone as far from his body as he could eyeing it like it might explode at any moment. "It wasn't even on! The battery went before we even left the manor!" his voice was becoming slightly hysterical by this point.

Jory scrutinised the phone and shrugged "So did you try to call him back?"

Bob stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "What?"

"Chris…it might be important." he said simply.

The group stared from him to the phone stupidly until Tony swore impatiently and snatched it from Bob's trembling fingers.

They held their breath as he pressed call and then speaker phone placing the handset reverently down on the blanket between them. Dull empty static roared from the receiver and into the night, there was nothing there.

Chris stared blankly at his phone. Sighing he ended the call after the 13th ring, Bob wasn't answering either. He stared up at the sun kissed house and tried to see through the window to Bob's room. No-one was home, it was the same at Marston's and at Amie's, Sarah's would be the same.

"Damnit." he hissed turning away and walking back down the road. He'd only just gotten back from uni that morning the last week had been hell ever since he'd gotten the call from Marston to say Anna and Carl had appeared in their world. He'd known his friends would follow them back into Van Helsing's world, it had been stupid of him to walk all this way just to see if he could find them sitting happily and safely at home.

If he had a car he'd go to the woods now just to see if there was any sign of them at all, all he wanted was to know that they were all safe.

Lost in his own thoughts he didn't hear the car horn and barely managed to jump out of the way as a familiar white van pulled up dangerously close to him climbing the pavement with a squeal of tyre rubber. He blinked as the back window declare din bright letters "If you need a wotsit and need it straight away, we've got a box of wotsits so give us a call today."

"Who wrote that crap?" he muttered annoyed as Josh wound down his window and flashed his friend a thick lipped pout.

"No-one coming out to play Chris?" he asked trying to be funny.

"No their all…" he trailed off staring at Josh's van as though it were the new fiat punto and his dad had just presented it to him for his birthday.

"Hey Josh, want to go for a drive?"

Sarah stared out at the dark ocean wincing at the argument carrying across the deck of the ship. The Captain had come up to find out what the shrill ringing had been and had seen them all gathered around the glowing phone. Needless to say he hadn't taken it well.

Bob was sitting with Amie next to her leaning against the wooden bow o the ship and swearing darkly at the pitiful remains of his mobile. The captain had crushed it in a fit of superstitious fear, grabbing the heavy anchor chain and slamming it down repeatedly until there was nothing bit a few sharp plastic remains amid a mess of battery acid.

"I knew this voyage was trouble! Strangers in Romania! Woman have no place aboard this ship!" the captain ranted.

Jory and Marston grinned "Didn't know he was that way inclined." Marston whispered sniggering.

Sarah sighed as the others whispered amongst themselves and Anna did her best to convince the captain not to dump them in the life boat and leave them in the middle of the Adriatic. She leaned out over the rail and watched the dark waters tumbling about the bow white tipped in the moonlight. Another darker presence joined her there and she glanced up to find Vladislaus leaning over with her, his hair loose and flowing in the breeze and his armour flashing as white as the waves.

"It does seem that you bring out the worst in people doesn't it?" he asked lightly turning to flash a grin at her.

She glanced down at her friends who were too deeply involved in the argument to care what she was doing. "I didn't make him angry." she hissed quietly.

Dracula laughed "Don't you think it is partly your fault though? He must have sensed something in you to make him feel wary, why else would he overreact over something so trivial?"

Sarah ignored him returning her gaze to the water.

"Do you like the sea?" he asked suddenly, seriously.

"It's nice, peaceful." she muttered absently.

To her surprise he laughed and she turned to see him shimmer into the Count his hair tied back once more and his long black coat in place. "You are so naïve my dear! The sea is death itself!"

He swept out his hand gesturing to the great dark expanse surrounding them. Sarah followed his gaze, squinting as she spotted the thin mist gliding across the surface towards them.

It seemed to her that many shadows travelled within it. Dark almost human silhouettes of all shapes and sizes riding the sea breeze.

To her relief it came no closer, pausing scant meters from the port side of the ship.

"What is it?" she whispered fearing that the beings within the mist would hear her.

"The lost souls of the sea." Dracula informed her a sad smile crossing his ghostly lips.  
"You hear often of the haunted houses even haunted fields and lands but the sea itself is one violent mass grave spanning the world."

Sarah shivered wrapping her arms around herself, her hand unconsciously closing around her pentagram pendent.

"They have been following you. The necromancer sought them and enslaved them and they cry out for your blood and your life."

"Who…who were they?" she asked trembling and sick at the thought of more of the dead coming for her and her friends the images of the captain nailed to the helm from Bram Stoker flashed unbidden to her mind.

Dracula grinned "They are the sailors lost in the storm, the children that disappear from the beaches, they are the people who died gasping and shivering in the arms of the sea."

She swallowed hard glancing back at Anna who was still yelling at the captain thrusting a bag of money into his hands. "When will they reach the ship?" she asked tentatively.

Dracula draw close to her his ghostly fingers caressing the frigid air above her cheek. "Soon…but not yet. Be brave my love."

She spun round to ask something more but he was gone for a moment she thought she saw him wave from within the approaching fog.

Note: sorry if it seems short next part up in the next few weeks! Please review so I know at least some of you remember me! 


	27. The Demeter

Yay! I still have readers!

Ok so I've had a lot of people asking about Harker. Basically I'm trying to integrate the original Dracula novel with Van Helsing. Johnathon Harker was the Englishman who is held hostage by Dracula so that he can help him come to England. Harker is married to Mina whose best friend Lucy becomes Dracula's first victim.

That's basically the brief overview any way. I needed another agent for the Vatican and I couldn't think of any one better.

Special mention: I had the most amazing review from an anonymous reviewer "aka The Gipper" can't thank you enough for that review. I'm incredibly self-conscious about my writing and there are days when I just read my chapters and cringe! It was fantastic to get such a vote of confidence and whenever I'm feeling like I can't write to save my life I'm going to use it as my inspiration. Btw saw Underworld Evolution and loved it! Brought the book too lol will def be reading that story! Thanks again, hope I live up to your review!

Lily of the Shadow: Was thrilled to get a review from deep blue sea hope you enjoy this one as much!

Fortune Zyne: yay glad your still here!

Anett: I'm looking forward to VH meeting up with them too but have to keep you in suspense :P

JeanieBeanie33: Yeh I missed Chris so he's in the story and he's home from uni for Easter so can't very well leave him out!

Christine Marquez : Don't worry Josh isn't going to stick around! The man himself yelled at me when I offered him a part, "I have copywrited my name and personality!" (gotta laugh at the personality bit, what personality?)

Marston: "Two Marston bits, not impressed Sarah," Ok I'll serve your vanity and put you in this chapter a bit more :P

Here's a long one for you all!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 27

Anna glared angrily at the pompous man standing before her, her hair was a mess thanks to the strong sea winds and the Captain's attitude was doing nothing for her mood. "Look, we paid for safe passage there are only three more days until we reach land you will be rid of us then!"

The Captain spat at her feet "You bring evil here! To continue would raise mutiny among my crew!"

Anna gritted her teeth and untied the small purse from her belt offering it to the captain. His greedy eyes widened at the weight of it. "Continue and I will see you are well rewarded, you and your crew."

The man licked the salt spray from his lips and considered for a moment "No other strange happenings? No more glowing objects?" he enquired warily.

"None, you have my word."

He slipped the purse into his shirt "You break your word and we will leave you in the lifeboat, you can make your own way to land!"

She watched him turn on his heel and walk away, his crew followed leaving the princess to mutter curses at their backs.

She sighed rubbing her stinging eyes with the back of her fist trying to gain some composure though she felt like she needed to sleep for a week. She turned to look for Carl and was startled to find Sarah standing behind her shifting nervously from foot to foot. The princess smiled at her young friend.

"Perhaps you could insure that all of your more obvious possessions were hidden in future?" she asked lightly leaning against the railing.

Sarah flushed embarrassed "Sorry, we didn't expect Bob's phone to go off like that…or at all, actually we don't know how it could have."

Anna smiled "No serious harm has been done." she assured her kindly. When the young woman failed to return her warm smile she became concerned. "Is something else bothering you?"

Sarah swallowed glancing across the ship to the ominous fog that was still gathering thick and fast to the port side. "This might not be the best time, but we have a problem."

Carl held the telescope as steady as he could though his hands were slick with sweat and his body trembled. He sucked in a sharp breath when the focus landed completely on one of the faces within the mist. Translucent greying flesh stared back at him with empty eye sockets, thick damp hair flew madly around it whipped into a frenzy by the northern wind. He was horribly reminded of a banshee corpse one of the other agents had dragged in to the Vatican one evening.

Any other corpse and he would have been fascinated, willing to see how it worked and functioned, but not the banshee. She'd haunted his dreams ever since, a screaming moaning demon with a woman's face, her rotting hands reaching for his throat…

"Carl?"

"GAAAH!" his outburst was quickly stifled by several hands.

"Shhh!" the teens hissed as he staggered and gagged. Anna glanced around the deserted deck worriedly, relieved that he hadn't attracted the attention of any of the crew.

Carl blushed as he batted the hands away "Sorry…there's erm…dead people in the fog."

Anna closed her eyes and Velkan squirmed in her arms beginning to cry. Gently she shift his weight on to her shoulder unconsciously bouncing to sooth him. "How close?" she asked quietly.

"A mile or so off…that's the strange thing, they're not coming closer…it's like their just following us."

Amie shivered hugging herself and drawing closer to Bob "Why would they do that?" she asked tentatively.

Tony took the telescope from Carl and put it to his eye. "Don't ask, just be happy they aren't coming closer." he muttered.

Carl glanced nervously at the Princess. "What do we do?"

Anna stared at the fog her mind racing. What would Van Helsing do? The teens were looking to her now, all of them worried and afraid, looking to her for leadership and protection, trusting her with their lives. This must have been how her father felt when he led the villagers out every full moon, how her brother Velkan had felt the day the werewolf took him. God she wished Van Helsing were standing by her side to share this burden.

"We wait." she decided finally.

The small white van sped towards Alton woods. Chris gritted his teeth as Josh started singing along to his R&B music turning it up and letting it blare out around the pleasant country lane they were passing through. He was going through hell, fighting Dracula hadn't been as scary as taking a drive with Josh alone.

"You know I'm missing a prayer meeting for this."

Chris glanced at him "Oh yeah, what do you do there then?"

Josh grinned at him wolfishly "Pray for your slow painful death."

Chris rolled his eyes "Yes, invoke satan why don'tcha." he muttered sarcastically. "Do you go to a remote Scottish island every summer with a giant wicker man?"

The dark haired boy frowned at him "I think your confusing me with Sarah."

Chris ignored that not wanting to go there. Josh had a tendency to go off on the evils of witchcraft and he definitely didn't want to give him the opportunity.

"You know Sam elbowed me in the face at football today." the boy announced almost proudly.

Chris laughed "Next time tell him to do it harder and turn your face into a crater, crater face."

Josh snorted "What so I'd look like you, you mean?" he shot back grinning at his own wit and genius.

Chris turned to look out of the window sighing with relief when he saw the sign for Alton coming up ahead. Just 6 miles, he just had to hold out for 6 miles.

Josh wasn't the most popular person among the group, he and Sarah could barely stay in a room together without him finding a way to throw at least 30 innuendos a minute in her direction. Her patience with him had run out one night when he'd invited himself round to Amie's house. The group had been watching a documentary on the A-bomb that fell on Hiroshima, he'd chosen the moment that a small child was being burnt to death to announce how he thought the whole thing was a brilliant and inspired way to end the war.

Chris had watched in amazement as Sarah, normally so quiet and calm, exploded. "Don't you say that! Don't you dare even try to fucking justify that to me Josh!" For once Josh had nothing to say.

Chris didn't mind the guy personally but there were times when he just didn't think before he spoke. When the group had vanished the year before all Josh cared about was that they'd gone camping without him, never mind that they were all in hospital with weird infections and scars that couldn't possibly be there, never mind that they could have all been dead!

"Hey is that Bob and Marston's cars?" Josh asked suddenly.

Chris blinked and sat up staring as they turned into the wooded car park and came to a stop alongside the white fiesta. A quick glance through the window revealed the small shrine to Bob's dog Billy on the dash board. "Yep that's them."

Josh grinned "Mmm so what do you think they're up too alone in the woods 'ay?" he nudged Chris suggestively.

Chris stared into the trees fear making his chest tighten "Maybe Sarah talked them into a mass orgy." he suggested sarcastically, his mind full of screaming and shouting, echoes of the last time he'd been here.

Josh's grin grew wolfish at the suggestion. "Perhaps we should join them then."

Chris shot him a look. "No, we're just going to go and see if we can find them."

Josh looked appalled. "In there? I'm not walking all that way just for that lot, I'll wait in my car."

He turned to go and then stopped turning back to his friend. "Of course if your serious about naked orgies I wouldn't mind a short walk." To Chris' shock the boy took in his appearance appreciatively.

"Chris have you been working out? You've got a chest like a fireman!"

Chris stared at him and practically fell over his own feet in his haste to get to the woods. "Actually maybe it's best if you wait here." he yelled hurrying away through the trees.

Josh shrugged as he watched him go and settled back in the van. R & B followed Chris as he found the path and began to make his way towards the chained tree. "Please be there." he whispered.

Sarah found herself leaning over the railing again, her eyes fixed in morbid fascination on the dark cloud that followed the ship's wake.

It hadn't taken the captain long to spot the odd formation, he'd passed it off as bad weather but she'd seen the crew crossing themselves and hurriedly warding off the evil eye whenever they came within a few yards of her and her friends.

They'd begun to avoid the small group over the last few hours, not that she minded, as Amie had pointed out soon after they'd boarded, most of the crew had yet to discover the wonders a little soap and water could do. She could smell the first mate coming halfway across deck and that was when she had been standing upwind of him, in a gale!

Footsteps approached her from behind and she took a deep theatrical sniff grinning to herself as Marston leant next to her frowning at the fog "How're you doing then?" he asked looking at her with concern.

"'bout the same as everyone else." she responded sighing. "Why?"

Marston smiled "you're just a little quieter than usual, that's all."

Sarah glanced up "There's a cloud of dead people hovering behind the ship but not coming any closer, what do you say to something like that?"

"Fucking hell there's a cloud of dead people hovering behind the ship but not coming any closer!" Marston suggested grinning wickedly.

Sarah smiled and rolled her eyes in mock exasperation.

He scowled "Hey, what's with the eye-rolling that was funny!"

Sarah grinned "sorry, I woke up this morning with this thing where all men are annoying me." 'especially dead ones' she added silently, hoping Dracula was close enough to hear and get the hint. "It's nothing personal."

Marston smiled "Well what would ya' do if I wasn't here? I provide much needed comic relief. Feel free to alter my earlier statement by replacing "fucking hell" with "Jesus Christ," "bugger me," "fuck me," or "sweet baby Jesus and the orphans," depending on your tastes."

Sarah smiled sweetly and patted his arm before wandering off to find Amie.

Marston watched her bemused that he hadn't at least gotten a chuckle. "But I'm funny." he muttered.

Tony who happened to be passing glanced up at him and said with a patient smile, "Of course you are."

The day passed slowly. Though the teens were on guard constantly the cloud moved no closer and the ship continued on it's course unhindered. As the sunset the boys discreetly stocked up on weapons in the pretence of checking through their saddle bags.

Carl darted here and there along the deck whispering Latin and scattering holy wafer behind buckets and barrels in a rough circle, he nodded a greeting to the night watchman, Abramoff, as he passed on his way to his post. The man eyed him suspiciously but didn't interfere, much to Carl's relief.

"I'd rather we could circle the whole vessel." he mumbled as he sat next to the princess who was trying Velkan with a leather bottle of milk. She didn't look up from the fussing baby, she could imagine the nervous expression on the young friar's face.

"We've done all we can." she responded patiently as Velkan finally excepted the teat and drank greedily.

Sarah wandered over with Tony "You know I could cast a circle, then the whole ship would be covered" she suggested.

Carl's eyes widened and he glanced nervously at her before focusing intently on his feet "That's alright I think the wafer will be enough."

"It would only take a sec-"

"I said no!" he snapped .

Sarah jumped at his tone, "oh…alright."

The friar mumbled something about stopping Bob setting the ship alight and hurried off to where the rest of the teens were examining the flamethrower they'd just discovered at the bottom of one of the bags.

"Did I do something wrong?" Sarah asked quietly sitting next to Anna who passed Velkan into her arms and took the opportunity to stretch.

The Princess shook her head "No, Carl's just…"

"Freaked out that Sarah's a witch?" Tony suggested.

"Partially." Anna agreed.

Sarah frowned "It can't be that can it? He's known that since we met."

"Yeah but back at the inn was the first time he saw it for real, first time I saw it for real." Tony said thoughtfully. "It was pretty freaky. We've all sorta been thinking it's a phase and you'll grow out of it."

"But it's not anything bad…"

Anna smiled "No, but Carl's been raised to fear people like you, he's entitled to his opinion."

"Yeah, but he doesn't have to be nasty about it." she muttered sulkily "So which is scarier? Vampire me or regular witch me?" she asked Tony teasingly.

Tony grinned "Regular witch you, that whole baby eating thing your lot do."

Velkan squirmed in her arms. "Don't listen to him sweetie."

Anna took the first watch leaning against the railing her sword ready at her hip. Every now and again Bob or Sarah would mumble something in their sleep, but they soon fell silent. The horses were huddled together close to the bow and she pitted the poor creatures as they trembled and shifted their hobbled feet in fear.

"Just a few more days." she promised them silently.

The wind picked up sometime after midnight forcing her to pull a cloak around her shoulders. She considered taking a quick walk around the open deck to keep herself warm but was reluctant to leave the group slumbering at her feet.

Another hour passed without incident.

Anna paced, tensing at the slightest sound, she glanced towards Abramoff and noticed him staring at her. He turned back to his post quickly when her eyes held his, she sighed in frustration. Van Helsing had always been the patient one.

She remembered him waiting for hours for Dracula's wolfman to appear. They hunted together for two months to find her brother Velkan after the werewolf curse took him from her, she'd been desperate to fight, to prove herself and it had almost gotten her killed more than once.

She'd learnt to be patient after that. Tonight though, the air itself mocked her for it, the wind hissed its malicious intent and the shadows hung heavy at her back and around her child. It's a hard thing for a mother to know her child is in danger and not be able to do anything about it. Velkan lay warm and comfortable in the special basket on her saddle between Amie and Sarah, the rest of the group were sleeping around him like a living barrier should anything happen.

The little Prince had barely reach four months old and he already had his own honour guard.

The Princess carefully stepped over the sleeping bodies and adjusted the blankets around him smiling as his hand lay above his head reaching for something. He looked so much like his father…

A distant thud sounded behind the helm. Her hand was to her sword instantly and she glanced towards the watchman, he hadn't moved, he was probably drunk.

Gently she approached Carl her eyes fixed at the shadows behind the helm. The friar awoke with a start as she shook him. She brought a finger to her lips signalling him to keep silent and stalked off into the darkness.

Carl ran a nervous hand through his hair and grabbed his rosary running the beads through his hands as he waited for her to return. He had to stifle a scream when a figure staggered out from the shadows.

"Petrofsky?" he whimpered in relief as the crew man staggered over brandishing a bottle of rum at him with a wide drunken grin on his face.

"Would you take a drink with me Friar?" the man offered sloshing most of the bottle down himself as he took another swig.

Carl shook his head "Er…no thank you, you haven't seen Princess Anna back there by any chance?"

Petrofsky's grin became wolfish. "Oh yeah the pretty lady went that way…you know." he staggered forwards to whisper in Carl's ear. "I think she likes me!"

"I wouldn't get your hopes up on that." the Friar muttered gagging at the stench of the man's breath.

Petrofsky shrugged and staggered away to the bow singing loudly as he went.

"Sailors." Carl muttered straightening his robes. He took a quick glance round and caught the eye of the watchman. Abramoff nodded at him, of all of the group the ship's crew trusted the Friar the most. Knowing that the watchman was there and would spot any danger coming he went in search of Anna. No doubt it had been Petrofsky and not a vengeful spirit that had alerted her.

Petrofsky raised his bottle once more as he saw the friar disappear at the back of the ship. The motion made him lose what little balance he had and he slid down the railing to land in a sprawled heap on the deck giggling merrily to himself and saluting the fog that was slowly beginning to gather around him.

He took another swig coughing as most went up his nose. He was so busy choking he didn't see the mist cutting him off from the rest of the ship, nor the wrinkled bloated fingers clawing over the railing.

Amie rolled over trying to get comfortable on the hard decking. Baby Velkan giggled in the basket by her head. With a sigh she sat up and checked on him sleepily adjusting the blankets a little more.

"Shh, go back to sleep baby." she whispered stroking his hair. His little eyes closed and his breathing evened out but she kept the motion up just incase. Her own eyes grew heavy and she looked around the dark deck blinking as she caught sight of the large cloud of sea mist on the starboard side.

She squinted as the mist started to fade and something shapeless glided across the deck and vanished. She blinked rubbing her eyes furiously, wishing she wasn't so stubborn about not wearing her glasses.

Jory rolled over to see her sitting up "wass up Amie?" he slurred sleepily.

"Thought I just saw something fall off the ship." she answered yawning.

Jory sat taller and looked around briefly before lying back down with a sigh and snuggling back into his blanket. "Was just your imagination." he mumbled.

Amie shrugged and settled down herself closing her eyes. "Well, can you tell it to come back please?" she mumbled as sleep pulled her back into her troubled dreams where men died screaming but made no sound.

Daylight broke through the dark clouds and found the group sitting close still wrapped in their blankets from the night before. They were all looking mournfully at the fog that was still following the ship.

"Carl, what day is it?" Amie asked tiredly.

"Tuesday."

"What date?" Tony prompted.

The Friar thought for a moment "er…29th October 1889."

"Samhain's coming up then." Sarah muttered braiding her hair.

Jory frowned. "Sow-what?"

"Halloween." She explained patiently.

Marston looked thoughtful. "1889? October 1889...that means Adolf Hitler's 6 months old somewhere out there crawling around in his little Nazi crib."

Carl blinked "Adolf Hitler? Is he going to be a famous scientist, or a poet? Perhaps a great leader of some kind?"

Bob smirked "Hitler? He's going to-ow honey!"

He rubbed his arm sulkily where Amie had hit him. She smiled up at him innocently nodding towards Sarah who was glaring at him. Getting the message he quickly spotted the crew cook heading their way and welcomed the distraction.

"So what's for breakfast?"

"Mamaliga." The crew cook announced passing bowls around the hungry crew and small group of travellers.

Carl muttered darkly as the cold lumpy substance pooled unceremoniously in the bottom of his bowl. His seasickness had finally passed but he still couldn't bring himself to eat the ships food.

The teens weren't much better. "I didn't eat this at the inn why the hell would I eat it now?" Bob muttered in disgust lifting a spoonful and allowing it to run back into the bowl.

Jory scowled at his in suspicion while Amie looked hopefully at the saddlebags that were stacked against the port side of the ship. "Don't we have other food? The villagers packed some for us didn't they?"

Marston shrugged "Think its actually just the same sort of porridge, it's what they all eat."

Jory grinned as Tony took a tentative taste. "It looks like your eating burnt face!"

Sarah set her bowl down "Well I have some of that weird sausage the people at the last village gave us, there's more of that than the porridge."

Her friends shuddered at the thought. Amie shook her head "Sarah that's like saying "the common cold's here and so is the plague but there's more of the plague."

Anna smiled at them "I take it you don't sail in your world?"

Marston shrugged "Oh we sail we just have five star cruise-liners to do it in, with shuffle board."

Tony snorted "No-ones played shuffle board since the 60's."

Muffled shouting suddenly erupted from below disturbing their meal, the group turned in time to see the captain and the mate fling open the hatch from below deck and storm up the last of the steps arguing animatedly in Romanian.

The crew watched them with wide eyes, crossing themselves and slinking away as the argument progressed. Sarah shivered as several crew members swept murderous stares over her and her friends.

"What's happening?" Tony whispered to Carl in concern.

The Friars face had gone sickly and pale. "Their saying one of the crew is missing…Petrofsky I think."

"The drunk?" Amie whispered.

"Captain!" The shout came from the bow. Avoiding eye contact the group watched curiously as the Captain and mate hurried to the crewman. They seemed to freeze as they neared him and soon the rest of the crew had gathered, a hushed silence descending on them.

The teens shared a glance and put their food aside. They carefully approached and the crew parted in shock to let them through.

The deck closest to the rail was covered with slime and slivers of pale dead flesh. A putrid aroma of rotten flesh rose from the mess making Amie cover her nose and mouth in disgust.

The Captain unsheathed his knife and knelt to retrieved a piece of cloth entangled in the fluid. "Explain this!" he demanded flicking the blade.

Amie squealed as it sailed towards her leaping out of the way in to. It landed at Carl's feet and he swallowed as he recognised it as a piece of Petrofsky's shirt.

Stepping away from the accusing stares of the crew he leant back to whisper to Anna. "I think we have a problem."

The crew were sent below and a barrel of booze opened to keep them sedate while the captain and the first mate took turns to look through the telescope. Each man paled as he beheld the fog creeping in the wake of the ship.

"They took Petrofsky." the captain stated bitterly.

Anna nodded "Some time in the night. They may return tonight."

"I knew we should have left you at the port." the mate spat glaring at the princess and her friends. "Your cursed! Everybody knows it, the Valerius curse kills everyone associated with it!"

"Weren't so superstitious when you took Anna's money though were you?" Tony muttered glaring at him.

The Captain put down the telescope suddenly looking old, he turned on them. "I want you off my ship." he said calmly.

"What! Where the hell are we supposed to go?" Jory demanded.

"The life boat will hold you."

"You've gotta be kidding!"

Anna placed her hand on Jory's shoulder to calm him and faced the Captain. "That's not going to help you or your crew. The Necromancer needs souls, there are 6 of you left on board and your vulnerable, he won't let you sail away from this."

The Captain scrutinised her. "What else can I do?"

Carl shifted uncomfortably. "Well…if I may say, they only attacked once last night, there are two days until we reach Italy. The odds are in our favour."

The Mate glared at the friar and then in astonishment as the captain nodded his agreement. "You can't listen to them captain! They're damning us! Let them follow Petrofsky! Throw them off the ship!" he implored him.

The captain glared at him. "Inform the crew that their will be double watches tonight, no man will stand alone, both the bow and aft to be watched."

With a few choice curses the mate pushed passed Marston and slammed the door behind him.

Night fell early that evening, clouds obscured the stars.

The watches were set. Those that weren't required huddled together below deck, not one of them giving any thought to sleep. The day had been trying as evening approached one other man had vanished leaving the stench of decay in his wake.

Olgaren the second mate had been stationed with the steersman for the last three hours after the sun set, they'd talked some until the steersman had gone to relieve himself. The second mate whistled to himself as he waited calming his spirit and trying to get ghost stories out of his head, he expected to see the skeletal hull of the Flying Dutchman fly over head, or hear the rasping cackle of a sea hag.

Olgaren shivered as the wind whistled around the mast and across the deck he cursed the steersman for leaving him and stamped his feet irritably to fend off the cold. The fog was getting thicker obscuring his view of the deck, for one wild moment it looked to him like the rest of the ship was untouched by it. Taking one fearful step forward and then another and another he found that it was the same wherever he went. 

"Just sea fog." he grinned at his own foolishness and turned to head back to his watch. A shadowy figure stood before him.

"There you are! Took your time didn't ya?" he cried in relief stepping towards the steersman, he could never pronounce the man's name sounded like "Determine?" "Determain?" the man was being awfully quiet, but then he was the only Russian aboard. He was just a silhouette in the fog and he became no clearer as Olgaren approached.

"Will you not talk to me man?" he asked offended reaching out and grasping his shoulder. An unpleasant chill brushed his fingers and he pulled them back soaking wet, a sliver of blue-black slime settled on to his palm and he brought it close to his face. It was a length of discoloured human skin.

The realisation made him gag and he looked up in pure astonishment as the fog cleared around the figure who clearly was not the Steersman. The bloated drowned face stared at him through empty eye sockets, bits of bone showed through where fish had nibbled at the flesh. Olgaren opened his mouth to scream as the apparition began to approach him, immediately the fog became a living thing closing over his mouth and nose and forcing it's way down his throat cutting off the sound before it could escape.

He doubled over tripping over his own feet, desperately trying to breathe but also waving his arms at the creature bending over him. Clawed rotting fingers closed on his arm and all at once the fog turned into water clogging his lungs and spewing from his nose and ears.

He was drowning.

His fingers clawed at the dead things arms tearing the fragile skin and soaking him with black viscid fluids. The creature began to drag him towards the railing, black spots began to cloud his vision, his lungs were on fire. His legs gave way finally and he ceased struggling, the creature lifted his body with surprising strength and together they plunged into the black waters of the Adriatic.

Sarah had been dozing her head leaning against the central mast. She grumbled in frustration when a cold hand grasped her shoulder shaking her awake. Growling she blinked up to yell at whoever had woken her but fell silent when Jory's face came into view his eyes haunted.

"Everyone's gone!" he hissed urgently.

"What!" she sat bolt upright and turned to find the rest of the group around her Anna passing around their swords.

The Princess held her gaze. "The crew-cook, the steersman, the second mate, the cabin hand all of them apart from the mate and the captain." gagging noises sounded further along the deck. Anna leaped to her feet and sprinted into the darkness. The teens grabbed their swords and kept up skidding to a halt in horror when they found her standing over the mate a bloated corpse reaching out for her.

"Get him back!" she demanded.

Marston and Tony leapt forwards dragging the unfortunate man from under her feet as she set about the creature. Her sword passed through the corpse and he staggered back dissolving into mist, with a cry Anna staggered back as thing tendrils gripped at her hair and clothes before slinking back to join the mass that was blanketing the aft section of the vessel.

The mate stared at her in shock. "Demons!" he screeched madly. "Demons!"

"Anna!" they all turned and found Carl hurrying towards them the Captain close behind him. "Anna their taking the ship! Their tearing it apart!"

The ship lurched violently at his words, wood screamed and bucked as the dead clawed at it.

The mate pulled out of Marston's grasp and pulled a pistol out of his belt pointing it at them all.

"Hey!" Marston leapt back. "Put that away!"

The Mate looked wildly around at them. "I know now! It's coming for us, all of us! I hear them calling me at night well they won't get me!"

He gripped the railing holding his pistol cocked and truly aimed as he began to climb over the railing.

"Get down from there!" The Captain yelled angrily striding forward.

The mate glared at him swinging his gun to point the barrel at the older man. "This boats cursed! They'll not get me!" with a maniacal laugh he turned the gun on himself and pulled the trigger.

Amie and Sarah screamed. Bob pulled Amie close and she trembled in horror as she heard the muted splash as the mate's body hit the water.

They stood in shocked silence, baby Velkan began to wail in his mother's arms.

Sarah backed away from the group until her back found the wooden wall of the bridge. Slowly she sank down it bringing her knees up to her chest and hiding her face as tears ran down her cheeks. "oh god."

"God's abandoned you."

She glanced up to see Vladislaus kneeling in front of her, his armour shinning in the cold moonlight.

"Make it stop." she whispered pleadingly. "Make the Necromancer leave us alone, why won't he leave us alone?"

He looked at her with pity reaching out to brush his ghostly fingers over her cheek. Her tears turned to ice at his touch and she shrank away from him. She closed her eyes and gasped in shock as warm arms held her. Opening her eyes she found herself being held by Tony, Dracula was gone.

She could hear Jory vomiting somewhere near and wished that she could comfort him.

"You ok?" Tony asked gently helping her to stand.

She shook her head sadly and he smiled sadly "No, I suppose you wouldn't be."

Anna walked over and wordlessly passed Velkan to her. She hugged him close watching as the Princess approached the Captain. The last of his crew, he stood staring at the mess of blood and bone the mate had left in his wake.

"The man was mad." he muttered in disbelief.

Anna turned him to face her. "How long till we reach land?" she asked urgently.

He blinked in surprise as though he didn't recognise her. "A…a day maybe more." he stammered.

She nodded and his gaze returned to the railing. "He must have killed them all, all of them…the whole crew." she watched silently as he walked towards the railing looking down at the dark waters. "all of them…"

Carl opened his mouth to contradict him but Anna silenced him with a look. "Let him believe what he must Carl." she whispered.

Bob rocked Amie against his chest, he felt sick the mate's last moments repeated themselves in vivid colour in his head. Glancing at the captain he blinked as the man became less distinct, when he looked again he could barely see him. It was like he was covered from head to foot in a swirling cloud of fog and then a dark figure joined him in it.

"Anna the captain!" he yelled pulling away from Amie and rushing towards him.

Anna whirled around her sword in her hand. The Captain's eyes were wide as he thrashed inside the fog, he was staring at the drowned figure in horror clawing at the fog that was forcing itself down his throat.

"No!" Anna leapt into the fog . The dead man turned in mild surprise as her blade sliced his head from his shoulders. It landed with a neat plop in the sea. The body stayed standing for a few seconds before crumpling to the deck.

The fog slowly drew back sliding over the deck like ghostly fingers until it rejoined the mass hovering at the aft of the vessel.

"Captain?" Carl asked tentatively.

The man lay on the deck heaving, his body shuddering with the effort of expelling the water from his lungs and stomach. He glanced up at her pale and ghostly a new madness in his gaze.

"Get off." he whispered breathlessly.

Carl blinked at him "I'm sorry?"

The Captain staggered to his feet his hand clawing at the gun that he'd dropped. He raised it slowly pointing it at Anna's heart. "I said get off!" he screamed. "You've damned my crew and damned my ship but you'll not damn me!"

The ship lurched to the side throwing them all off their feet. The Captain's gun went off and Anna flinched feeling it whistle past her ear as she lost her footing and slid across the deck.

Sarah screamed and clutched Velkan tightly as the deck tipped and she fell to her knees. Tony grabbed her other arm and held on to the window of the bridge gritting his teeth as splinters bit into his palm.

Anna somehow found her way over to them grabbing Sarah by the back of her coat and pulling her up to the side of the wooden structure, Tony tightened her grip and the three of them used their bodies to shield Velkan as the ship began to right itself.

"Everyone ok?" Marston yelled frantically. He fought sudden nausea as the ship lurched to the opposite side before settling back. The timbers screamed in protest and the wind carried the wailing of the dead across the deck.

Carl and Jory staggered towards the railing glancing aft. The fog was clawing at the wood like a living thing, tearing whole planks away. Jory hurried towards the lower deck throwing the doors open and finding the floor awash with water.

"We're sinking!"

Amie clung to Bob screaming hysterically "We're gonna die! We're all gonna drown!" Bob held he tightly his face pale, he couldn't even try to deny it.

Anna lurched forward grabbing the captain. "We have to abandon ship."

He looked at her blankly. "I'll not leave her."

"You have too! Your crew's dead captain, and your ship's doomed either you come with us or you go down with her!"

He looked at her then, really looked and she was startled to see a small spark of life light up his eyes. "The life-boats on the port, take her you'll reach land within a day."

Turning he ran towards the bridge throwing Tony out of his way and snatching at the helm.

"What the hell are you doing!" Tony yelled making to follow. Anna pulled him back.

"Forget him Tony, get to the lifeboat, all of you!" She ran into the bridge slamming the door behind her.

"Come on Tony!" Sarah yelled urgently grabbing his hand and dragging him across the deck. The ship lurched angrily again throwing them all to their knees. Sarah curled protectively around Velkan and in turn Tony encircled her with his arms taking the brunt of the a barrel that rolled their way. Sarah did her best to ignore his grunt of pain and took the time to make her coat into a sling securing Velkan across her chest.

The baby was inconsolable, his wailing merging with the screams of the damned.

Anna staggered when the ship lurched again slipping and landing among the broken shards from one of the glass lanterns. She swore loudly in Romanian pulling a large piece out of her palm with her nails. Thankfully it wasn't deep but bled freely.

"Captain!" she caught sight of him behind the helm, his back to her as he steadied himself against the compass. "We have to leave, you have to get to the lifeboat!"

He didn't answer, didn't even turn. The princess fell silent as a low wheezing drifted to her across the bridge. "Captain?"

Slowly he turned towards her, his eyes were wide with shock, his skin deathly white and his hands clutched at the ragged stake of wood protruding from his abdomen. He smiled at her blood coating his teeth and bubbling over his lips. "I told ya lass, I'll not be leaving."

The ship tipped again. Anna lurched towards him holding the helm to keep herself steady. "I can help you." she insisted reaching for the stake. Her bloodied hand slipped on the wood and he laughed wetly pushing her away.

The man grasped the spokes of the helm gripping them tightly "I'll see her into port, she'll not sink while I hold her steady. I'll not let her rot out here." he staggered losing his footing and falling to the deck. The captain's eyes were wild shining with almost religious fever.

Anna looked at him with pity. "You can't stay here alone, you won't be strong enough to get the ship into port."

He nodded madly "Yes I will, she's a good ship, a strong ship!"

"You know you won't be able to hold up, you'll die if you stay here."

"I love this ship and I promised I'd die with her, but first I'll see her safe into port."

He dragged himself back using the supports to lift himself so he was standing behind the wheel. Wincing he held up a strong rope pressing it into Anna's hands his eyes pleading. "Lash me to the wheel, there's a good lass."

She stared at him in horror. "You can't mean this."

He glared at her "I'm captain of this ship and I'll see her safe! Lash me to her girl, I'm going to my crew."

With sad eyes and trembling hands she did just that, wincing as he yelled for her to pull it tighter, digging the rope into his skin. His eyes shone with new purpose and he was so caught up in his fever that he didn't hear her whispered apology as she walked slowly out of the bridge and closed the door behind her.

Jory met her outside looking panicked "What about the horses?" he asked breathlessly.

Anna looked back to where the animals were shivering on deck, their ears crushed against their skulls. "Unhobble them, they can swim alongside."

Jory's eyes widened. "All the way? You said it was a whole day to land."

"It is."

"So their going to die?"

She shook her head her eyes hard. "Their strong, they have a better chance than if we leave them here."

Before long they had the life boat ready and lowered it into the sea. The horses were forced screaming off the ship and into the water swimming and snorting in panicked circles. Amie worked quickly to tie their reins to the small raft.

The ship roared once more as they pushed off. They watched in silence as the fog consumed the ship and the vessel lurched turning away. Before long it was swallowed up into the darkness.

"Where do you think he'll end up?" Bob asked quietly.

Anna closed her eyes sadly. "I don't know, but I hope he finds his safe harbour."

Note: Please review!

I'm swamped with work but trying to update as soon as I can so will hopefully get the next chapter up before I head off for my holidays. 


	28. Wraiths

filteredlight: Hey thanks for the review, yeah if there's one thing I'm crap at it's spelling and grammar…and punctuation lol Have tried to check this one through properly but considering asking one of my friends to start to check the chaps for me before I put them up.

The Gipper: Thanks again for a great review hope I live up to them!

Marston: Thanks for the review! I know I see you pretty much every other day but still nice to get a review from you. Sorry you don't do much in this chapter but your time will come my friend!

Christine Bahrens: Sorry no Chris in this chapter but don't worry im getting there lol Yeah Josh is that creepy in real life, he actually did say the "chest like a fireman" thing to Chris while they were playing football I think Marston Bob and Chris just backed away slowly at that point.

Fortune Zyn: Glad it was scary I was trying for scary lol

Jeaniebeanie33: So you're a Tony and Sarah fan?

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 28

Igor shivered is his master paced before him. "He must have died in the river." He tried pitifully. "He was weak."

The Necromancer turned on his heel to glare at the cripple "He is Van Helsing." He spat vehemently. "It will take more!"

Igor backed away in submittance mumbling incoherently to himself. The Necromancer ignored his grovelling and turned, with a silent call another of his pitiful creations staggered forward, the undertaker shuffled madly into the light the stump of his arm spasming periodically.

"Master." He muttered bowing his head. The loss of his arm had considerably dampened his murderous euphoria.

"Send out the scouts, if Van Helsing survived I want the situation amended." The Necromancer closed his eyes. "The others are drawing closer to me he can not be allowed to interfere."

The Undertaker grinned and bowed out of his master's presence he knew just what to send.

Van Helsing and Harker had travelled in relative silence throughout the day; they had managed to acquire a horse for Gabriel and, to his delight, a hat. Harker glanced sideways at him. "Why do you insist on wearing that ugly thing?" he asked suddenly.

Van Helsing glanced out from under the rim clearly offended. "It serves a purpose!"

Harker smirked. "Which would be?"

"Keeps the sun out of my eyes."

"You do most of your work at night." Harker laughed.

Van Helsing smirked. "A disguise."

"Not much of one, most of Europe knows you by your hat alone, without it you might stand a chance of blending in."

Van Helsing smiled. "So you think I was caught because of my hat."

"I think it may have contributed, yes."

"It wasn't the hat." He said simply, forcefully. Something in his tone told Harker not to pursue the subject.

Somewhere in the trees an animal screamed. Van Helsing's horse snorted and froze its ears flat against its skull. Harker pulled his to a stop glancing around the trees. "I didn't think there were any large predators in these woods." He said suspiciously.

Van Helsing dismounted and passed him his horse's reins. "There aren't."

He crept forward pushing shrubs and branches out of his path. It felt good to be the hunter again.

Another scream made him crouch suddenly his hand reaching for the pistol at his side. Two blurred shapes shot past the trees. With a rush of adrenaline he realised his pistol wasn't going to help them.

Harker was waiting for him. "Wraiths, they're hunting us." He called taking the horse from the young man. Harker frowned dismounting and following him as he moved towards the trees pausing to tie the panicked creatures to the boughs of a large oak.

"Wraiths? You mean evil spirits?"

Van Helsing nodded urgently turning with hard eyes to his former pupil. "They thrive on emotion, any emotion so you mustn't feel only think!"

The hunter began to search through the saddlebags when cold silver touched his fingers he grasped at it and pulled out two identical silver crucifixes. Harker smiled triumphantly but received a hard stare from the hunter.

"I said no emotion." He said silently.

Harker swallowed closing his eyes for a moment and burying his feelings as he had been taught. After a moment he opened his eyes and found cold silver in his palm, at a push of a button a blade saturated with holy water burst forth from the end. 'Carl's best' he thought emptily.

He silently followed Van Helsing's lead. The trees seemed to close in behind them as they drew further in and closer to their prey. The Wraiths were disgusting translucent creatures of no clear sex, pale skin looked as though it had been carelessly tacked on to the flesh that was barely there. Dark hollow eye sockets worried over the deer corpse at their feet and tangled hair moved in a breeze that didn't stir the trees around them.

Harker watched hollowly as they spied further prey. The taller let out a shriek and hovered above the ground, skeletal fingers extended towards the bushes. Its partner vanished in a wisp of smoky tendrils, which twisted and turned before disappearing beneath the leaves. A high scream shattered the silence of the wood once more and a young faun staggered into the clearing tripping over the corpse of its mother. Harker was startled to see the black tendrils clawing at its ears and nose rushing into its fragile body. The poor creature froze trembling; it's eyes rolling back into its skull. With one final rasping wail it collapsed amid its mother's tangled limbs and lay still.

"They feed off emotion, the simplest emotion." Van Helsing whispered next to him. The watched as the faun's skull cracked and a skeletal hand clawed its way out coated in grey matter, the wraith's body took shape seeming to radiate with new power and purpose.

"Any emotion makes them stronger. Animals are temporary hosts a human can be completely taken over for years, the wraiths make them destroy the ones they love, they feel the hate and the anger from their victims and grow from their grief."

"Parasites." Harker breathed.

Van Helsing watched as Harker circled to the left and quelled the worry that had begun to stir at the back of his mind. At his practiced command his feelings numbed and suppressed until he could no longer feel them and the Wraiths could not sense them.

He'd dealt with these creatures long ago in the humid forests of southern America, they'd destroyed his companions one by one until he'd found poor Peter cowering beside their bodies his eyes black with the presence inside. He'd taken the man's head after he'd begged for death. The wraith had risen up and tried to take him instead. The creature had not been easy to kill but he'd managed, he could feel the oily blood on his hands even now.

The taller wraith was closer to him, as he approached it stiffened and the blank sockets of its skull turned blindly towards him. He froze breathing evenly and silently, feeling nothing, thinking nothing. The creatures long thin tongue snaked out and tasted the air a low whine of confusion sounded from its throat and slowly it began to slither through the air weaving between the trees in the hunter's direction leaving its fellow to worry over the last remnants of the deer and its faun.

Van Helsing felt it's influence casting out from it like a web, it knew he was there. Wraiths were blind but like a bat it sent out signals and learned from an echo. The signal it sent was a sharp sickening imitation of dread and fear designed to make its prey immediately feel what they were trying so hard to suppress. He let the feeling flow over him, allowed his brain to cast it aside but just as the creature was wondering blindly passed a sharper emotion stabbed at him and an image, unwanted and unprepared for, was forced into his mind.

A figure, a woman, crying and screaming in the throes of childbirth, blood - too much blood, soaking the sheets around her. The was no sound just the image, just her fear and her pain and then she threw her head back and he staggered as he beheld Anna, his princess, his wife. Her mouth formed his name before another scream distorted her lips

To late he realised his mistake as the wraith reached out for him they had been sent by the Necromancer with a purpose, to find and destroy him and they were armed with the perfect bait.

Amie swayed with the small boat her stomach seeming to roll and flip with the waves, wisely she kept her mouth closed tightly not trusting herself to speak less she make an embarrassing mess on Tony's back.

Carl wasn't helping; he had spent most of the day leaning over the side vomiting whatever was left of his stomach contents into the sea. "Oh God tell me we're close! Send a dove to look for land, anything!" he wailed before disappearing back over the side followed quickly by more wrenching sounds.

Sarah sighed swaying with the boat feeling it jarring her empty stomach with every swell. Up and down, side to side and lurch. It was a dance that changed with each new wave and each stinging spray of salty water that drenched her already dripping clothes and hair. The small group was thankful that the climate had grown warmer as they'd crossed the sea, the wind held less of a bite too it and the white expanse of the snow covered Carpathian forests and valleys had faded promising green fields and cobbled streets. Eventually any way, for now Sarah could only stare at the swirling black waters.

The sun peeked out from the clouds pale and weak but enough to sparkle briefly on the water she reached out and brushed the surface with her fingers trying to capture the rays that danced their and smiled wistfully.

"Just think about it, in a few weeks this will all be over, the dead will stay dead, Van Helsing and Anna will be raising their little vampire slayer kid back in that huge mansion and we'll be driving home."

Anna returned her smile brightly rocking Velkan gently in her arms.

Jory grinned dipping his oars with more gusto "and on the way home we can play spot the road kill."

Bob laughed, "Yeah, 25 points for a badger."

"No 50 cuz they're an endangered species" Amie piped up instantly regretting opening her mouth and promptly closed it again looking slightly greener than she had a moment before.

"100 for a deer." Tony put in grinning cheekily at Sarah who did her best to look annoyed. "That's your "Spirit animal" right Sarah?" he asked patronisingly.

"Yeah."

"Why's that then? Cuz you like grass and spook easy?"

She was saved from answering when Bob suddenly yelled out. "Land! I can see land!"

Carl rocked the boat in his haste to see past the boy. Sure enough a distant solid line could be seen on the horizon smaller dots were closer to shore presumably fishing ships. The Friar flopped back with a relieved sigh. "Thank God!"

A large vessel approached them as they came closer to land. The crew of the fishing trawler were understandably shocked to find a small boat full of teenagers, a princess and a Friar, drifting out at sea and more so when they realised it was surrounded by swimming horses!

Before long they had hauled the menagerie aboard. Anna quickly explained about the Demeter getting into difficulties and the Captain of the trawler agreed to send a party out to try and retrieve her and her poor captain. It was a few blissful hours before they reached the shore. It felt strange to be on solid ground again and Sarah still felt the ground buck and sway beneath her feet long after they'd left the ship far behind.

Anna managed to negotiate with a local farmer persuading him to let her keep her horses in his largest field. She paid him handsomely and hired eight replacements.

"They deserve a rest after all they've been through." She said happily watching them cantor happily around their temporary home.

The group settled themselves for a night in a local inn and each slept like the dead long into the following morning, it was late afternoon before they set off for Rome once more.

"We'll reach it by evening." Carl promised.

The air grew chill as the creature's ghostly fingers reached for him, Van Helsing darted to the side but the creature followed reaching to clasp black feelers over his mouth and nose. He batted them aside using the silver crucifix as a club. The creature paused and began a low hum, immediately he saw Anna again lying deathly pale in a blood soaked bed as a nurse carried a dead baby from the room.

His chest tightened with grief. "It's a lie! You bastard!" he screamed leaping forward. The wraith hovered around him encircling him in its smoky tentacles. It was excited by his rage and darted foolishly at him driven with hungry desperation towards the grief and anger her was emitting. The hunter side stepped its attack easily and slammed the soaking blade through its ethereal skull.

The creature writhed silently in front of him it's flesh boiling and smoking until it began to dissolve into the air, a breeze stole away the remains. Van Helsing stood for a moment trying to gather his thoughts wave after wave of fear shook him and chilled him to the bone.

"It wasn't real." He muttered to the dry leaves on the forest floor. "…wasn't real." Bile crept into his throat at the thought of his princess in so much pain. That hadn't been a normal wraith, a normal wraith couldn't produce images it could only project feelings, pure feelings but this one had gone into his mind and dragged up the thing he feared the most. "Oh Anna."

A strangled cry sounded and suddenly he remembered the other wraith. "Harker!"

His boots pounded the ground crushing twigs and leaves under his boots in his haste. "Harker hold on!" He burst through into a clearing and spotted Harker writhing on the ground his face a mask of white despair as the wraiths tendrils caressed his skin and began to force its way into his nose and mouth.

"Damn it Harker!" The crucifix lay where Harker had dropped it, the blade hadn't even been released. Van Helsing scooped it up without breaking his stride and flew at the creature. It let out an unearthly scream as the saturated metal splintered skin and cartilage. The creature dissipated like its deceased brethren making Harker gag wildly as the tendrils withdrew.

Van Helsing stood panting for a moment watching coldly as the last of the creature was spirited away by the breeze. Finally he rounded on Harker. The young man was lying sobbing pitifully on the ground, his hair was a mess and there was mud on his face.

"What the hell were you thinking!" the hunter raged dragging him to his feet and pushing the crucifix to his chest with an aggressive thud. "You just threw your weapon away!"

But Harker wasn't even looking at him, his wide tearful eyes were unfocused and staring somewhere beyond the Hunter.

"I-I saw Mina." He stammered finally "…she was a vampire, and Quincy and Lucy…oh my Mina…" His hand rose unconsciously to the scars on his throat rubbing frantically at them.

Note: should hopefully get the next chapter up within a coupl'a days cuz it's nearly done. Please review I love to hear from you! (And Marston I know I'm seeing you tomorrow (Sunday) but still review!)


	29. Mina

THE GIPPER: Yay another lovely review! Thanks! Yeh I do take a while to update mostly it's because I have a lot going on at work at the moment (and Bob calls me to pick Marston up and go socialise most nights. Damn him and his 10 minutes notice!)

Christine Bahrens: Here's that update I promised

JeanieBeanie33: Will try and slip some more Tony/Sarah in the next few chaps just for you

Miss: Is Dracula a spy? Hmm the only thing I can really say is he's complex. Glad you like my last story too!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 29

Van Helsing reluctantly struck camp for the night. The day had been spent in silence, each man tormented by his own memories and fears. He lit the fire and cooked a small meal out of habit than real need, neither man felt hungry but they both forced the meat and bread down.

Harker hadn't said a word since the attack. He went through the motions of the day but now he just sat staring into the fire his face ashen. Van Helsing busied himself with his pack turning away from his young friend with a despairing sigh, he knew somewhat how the man was feeling.

Harker stared into the flames. He could see her face perfectly in his mind, beautiful green eyes wide with innocent joy at their wedding. Her hair had fallen in glossy black ringlets across her shoulders. God she had been beautiful…

_4th April 1887- two years ago_

Mina Murray paced the room nervously, her hands wringing the bouquet of white lilies. She passed the mirror for the third time glancing only briefly at herself marvelling for another panicked moment that she was wearing her mother's wedding dress. It all felt like a dream.

"What a nightmare!" She blinked startled and turned to the petite blonde struggling furiously with her hair by the vanity unit.

Lucy Westenra her dearest friend bothered far too much about her looks on a normal day but Mina had never imagined that the excitable girl would have spent a full three hours battling with the glorious golden curls.

"Really Lucy, you look fine. If you do any more with your hair your likely to out shine the bride." Lucy turned and smiled at her sheepishly. Finally giving her hair one last graceful twist before giving up and rising from the stool.

She grinned as she took in Mina's appearance. "Oh Mina you do look perfect!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Dear Jonathon will have a fit!"

Mina laughed blushing prettily. "I'd rather he didn't do something so alarming at the altar."

Lucy reached out and took her hands smiling at her friend. "Just think, in a few hours you'll be Mrs. Jonathon Harker! We're becoming old maids already Mina, I do hope Arthur proposes to me soon I shall be old and grey if he delays too long."

Mina laughed "You'll be a bride within a few weeks, how could he resist your charms?"

The girls laughed and then jumped, as there was an insistent knock on the door. "That'll be the car!" Lucy hurried to open it. Mina glanced up in alarm as she heard Lucy cry out in astonishment and turned to see her friend trying her best to force the large wooden door closed on their visitor.

"Lucy! What on earth are you doing?"

Lucy grunted in frustration as she battled with the handle. "It's Jonathon! He can't see you before the ceremony, it's bad luck!"

Mina grinned as she heard Jonathon's frustrated shout. "For goodness sake Lucy! I need to talk to her!"

"Can't it wait until your married?"

"Now Lucy!"

Mina smothered her amusement in her lilies and then proceeded to walk behind the changing screen. "Let him in Lucy he can talk to me but I'll not let him see me."

Lucy scowled at that and reluctantly released the door.

Mina had to force herself not to look round as Jonathon let out a startled cry and there was a sudden crash as he fell into the room.

Lucy stifled a giggle as he scrambled to his feet his dark hair a mess and his tux dishevelled. "I'll give you two minutes but as soon as the car gets here you'll have to leave." She told him firmly shutting the door behind her.

Harker watched her leave fighting sheepishly to straighten his jacket. "Thank you Lucy."

As the door clicked into place he glanced around the room his eyes alighting on the shadow behind the changing screen. "Mina? Mina do come out, it's rather difficult to talk to you when I can't see you." He exclaimed sitting on the edge of the bed.

Mina giggled "And risk Lucy's wrath? She'll not have bad luck spoiling our wedding day you know."

Harker shook his head smiling. "I'd hate to be Arthur, imagine what she'll be like at her own wedding if she's this bad at ours!"

"That's if he ever proposes." Mina pointed out. Harker grinned cockily even though she couldn't see him.

"Actually, I have it on rather good authority that he may well be proclaiming his love for our dear Lucy at the reception."

He listened to her delighted laugh and marvelled that within a few short hours the wondrous creature that was Mina Murray would become his wife. The thought was almost too perfect, too wonderful to be true and it could very well be just that.

Mina heard his despairing sigh and shifted curiously. "Speaking of our wedding we should really be getting to the church. What was so important?"

Harker shifted uncomfortably, his hands were sweating from nerves and he wiped them swiftly on his trousers. "This would be much easier to tell you if I could see you." He muttered sulkily.

Mina waited patiently as he gathered his thoughts; finally with a defeated sigh he stood and walked over to the screen stopping to lean casually against the outer edge. "Mina darling…do you love me?" he asked tentatively.

Her surprised laugh made him smile. "Is that a yes?"

She grinned to herself behind the screen. This is what had been so important?

"Of course, we're about to be married Jonathon, I love you completely and hopelessly."

Harker took this in, a troubled expression on his face. "But would you still, if you knew I have been lying to you?"

Sudden doubt clawed cruelly at the young girl and she fought to keep herself steady as she replied. "What do you mean Jonathon?"

He ran his hand over his face. "I'm afraid my darling, that I have not been entirely honest with you…I told you that I was a property manager, indeed you've assumed that my regular travels and meetings have been to visit clients wishing to buy properties in London…in fact that is not so." He paused gathering his thoughts. "Marriage…I would not have us enter it with secrets, not secrets such as those I have been forced to keep…"

She'd listened patiently and quietly as he'd told her of the Vatican and the holy order, of the secrets hidden deep within the vaults of Rome, of monsters and demons that stalked the night and of the men and women who waged an endless war against them. He'd told her of the monsters he'd fought and killed and she'd listened without a word until finally she'd stepped from behind the screen and the very sight of her had stolen his breath so he could tell her no more.

When the car had pulled up and Lucy burst in neither he nor Mina had listened to her outraged and scandalised rant. He'd felt so free as she smiled up at him, taken his hand and led him silently out to the waiting cars. Despite all his secrets and the creatures he fought every day and night, she still loved him.

_12th December 1888 – The Vatican - A month after Dracula's death_

Harker stared at the projection screen. The hidden armoury of the Vatican filled his nostrils with the scent of fire and brimstone from the forges, the air echoed with the clashes and hisses of the working monks. He smiled slightly to himself, how ironic that the holy order of the Vatican would have at its heart a room so reminiscent of hell.

Cardinal Jinette sauntered into his line of sight his gaunt countenance framed by the startling red of his robes. "The creature is of formidable intelligence, he believes he is continuing Dracula's work."

Harker scowled in disbelief. "That's flawed, if he is continuing as Dracula why then has he not gone to Romania? Surely he'd want to follow in the Count's footsteps? Maybe take his chances with Van Helsing and the Valerius Princess?"

The Cardinal shot him a disdainful glance. "This is a creature of hell, I doubt he believes in logic." He snapped sharply.

"But you just said he was intelligent." Harker countered smirking at the man's obvious irritation.

"He is as intelligent as we would expect any of these creatures to be."

Harker sat back casually and indicated to the Cardinal to continue.

"We know that he has crossed the channel from France and landed in England as of yesterday evening. Our trackers locate him around the Whitby area – "

Harker froze "Whitby?" Lucy's Whitby, the Whitby where his dear Mina was currently staying?

"Yes Whitby Harker." The Cardinal turned on him his eyes blazing. "Perhaps you would like to pay attention to the briefing from this point on?"

"What's his pattern?" Jonathon managed to croak out staggering from his chair to the projector. One by one images of beautiful young woman passed before his eyes. All smiling, all full of life…and then they appeared again, their lifeless eyes glazed and staring up at him, their faces stained with whatever tiny ounce of blood had escaped their killer's fang filled maw.

"He's trying to find brides." Harker realised in horror.

Jinette nodded "It would appear that he's picky about his choices, most are left for dead. Like Dracula, he stalks his victims first, sometimes for weeks."

"Weeks…then there's still time." He turned to leave grabbing the first weapons bag he came to on the way.

"One more thing."

He turned impatiently to regard Jinette. "I am in a bit of a hurry."

The Cardinal actually smiled. "I recommend you take a detour to London. Van Helsing is honeymooning there."

Harker gaped at him. "Van Helsing's married? Since when!"

The Cardinal threw him an amused glance. "You would have heard me mention it during the briefing if you had been paying attention." He said smugly.

_19th December 1888 – London midnight_

Jonathon Harker stalked the silent streets his eyes watched the shadows as keenly as the Harlots across the street were watching him. The band of gold on his wedding finger was no deterrent and he politely declined yet another offer of "a good time at a fair price."

The girl would have been beautiful once, but now she was scarred and scrawny, years of poverty and abuse driving the light out of her soul. He could feel her gaze on him as he turned the corner and let out a sigh of relief once he was out of sight. He didn't flinch as a dark figure melted from the shadows and took its place at his side. A scarf half hid the man's face and a wide rimmed black hat sat comfortably on his head.

Van Helsing glanced back at the corner and shook his head. "It was a good offer you know."

Harker smirked. "I slipped her some notes when she bumped into me, she needn't make that offer to anyone else for a month at least." They walked along in silence heading instinctively towards the train that would be travelling the rest of the way to Whitby in a few minutes.

"Heard I missed a wedding." Harker commented dryly.

Van Helsing pulled down his scarf and patted his old friend on the shoulder a bright grin on his face. "Likewise."

They reached the train with seconds to spare climbing easily aboard. The cabin was luxuriously furnished, deep couches of red and gold spanned the main cart. Harker took all that in his stride but it was the young woman lounging so easily on the nearest one that stole his breath away.

Anna regarded him warmly from beneath her dark fringe of ringlets.

"You must be Mr. Harker." She stood gracefully extending her hand. He took it somewhat surprised by the ease of her manner. "P-please, call me Jonathon."

Van Helsing grinned sweeping the princess into a passionate embrace. "Harker, allow me to introduce, Anna Valerius-Van Helsing." He smiled proudly. "My wife."

_21st December1888 – Whitby _

"Quincy's dead Mina!" Lucy sobbed. "Darling Quincy." Mina looked hopelessly up at her husband as she tried to comfort her distraught friend. Arthur Holmwood, Lucy's fiancé, ran a desperate hand through his hair. The gallant Texan had been his closest friend and one of Lucy's suitors in the early months before he'd announced his own intention to marry her.

Van Helsing strode into the room followed closely by Anna both looked grim. "What exactly happened Lucy? Why did you invite that creature in?" The hunter asked gently.

Lucy sobbed once more dabbing her eyes. "Quincy had come to visit. The gentleman at the door…he said he was delivering a present for my wedding…"

"And you invited him in." Anna finished quietly.

Lucy nodded tearfully. "He looked familiar, I think he's been watching me…I kept seeing him in the street at night."

Arthur stood and walked to his fiancé taking her into his arms. "I think we should leave here for tonight Lucy, it's not safe." No one followed as he led her gently from the room.

Harker glanced once more at the sheet covering Quincy's body before meeting Mina's eyes. "You should go with them Mina. Help keep her calm, the creature will try again."

_25th December 1888 – 4 days later_

The creature had come back. Mina fought not to scream as it advanced on her. Lucy was cowering beside her forcing herself between the small gap between the wardrobe and the wall.

"Back! Back monster!" Mina cried holding the crucifix Jonathon had given her out with a trembling hand.

The demon was laughing at her his eyes burning into Lucy with a deadly lustful gaze. "You'll not have her!"

Harker hadn't waited for Van Helsing, he'd rushed into the house, leaping over poor Arthur as he lay unconscious on the stairwell. As he'd burst into the bedroom the creature had taken him by surprise pinning him to the wall and dipping it's filthy fangs into his throat. Ll he'd known was pain until Mina had hurled the cross at the creature.

It screamed, tearing its fangs out of his throat it turned and made for Mina. He'd watched in a daze as she'd fled the house, drawing the creature away from Lucy and away from him. Then he'd heard her scream…

_Present day_

Van Helsing watched Harker rub the scars on his throat in pity. He remembered Mina's death too clearly. He'd arrived to find her pinned beneath the creature, she was already dead but still it was feasting on her lifeless body. The creature had laughed at him with her blood on it's lips and it had died for that.

He'd never forget Harker's cry of horror, his accusing stare as he'd finally staggered into the street his own throat bloody from the beasts bite.

How could any one stand the pain of such a loss? Was Anna lying somewhere in the ruins of Vaseria? Harker glanced up at Van Helsing's defeated sigh. They met each other's gazes with knew understanding.

"I'm leaving for Transylvania tomorrow." The hunter muttered stoking the fire.

Harker nodded. "I'll continue to Rome."

They parted before dawn.

Note: So there you have it that's my version of Harker's story :D Reviews are loved


	30. The Vatican

Miss; Sorry it's taking me so long to update between work and BBQs there never seems to be enough time to write!

Marston: Thanks again for the reviews and I don't moan that much…do I?

Christine Bahrens: I may not get rid of Harker completely you'll just have to keep reading and see :P

JeanieBeanie33: Well in the original Dracula, Lucy is killed pretty early on, so I figure in my version she got married to Arthur and had many tiny babies. I'm an idealist.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 30

Rome was not at all how they had imagined it. They over looked it in the early hours of the morning from atop a rising hill in the western perimeter gazing down at the eerily lit structures of the houses and spires in the light of the torch lit streets. The majestic silhouette of the ruined coliseum sent a reluctant shiver down Sarah's spine. Candlelight shone from many of the dark house windows so that the shadows seemed to flicker and dance with the flames that sort to remove them, and in the distance the great doomed roof of the Vatican itself rose up from St Peter's square.

"Rome." Anna whispered almost reverently, she leant down in the saddle to adjust baby Velkan's swaddling when the cool breeze reached them, the barest hint of a smile on her face.

"Thank God." exclaimed Carl with all the air of a man who had sighted dry land for the first time in months. Sarah grinned as she imagined him dropping from his horse to kiss the Vatican steps when they approached, maybe he wouldn't be quite so dramatic about it but she had to admit there was a kind of relief now that they were within sight of a sanctuary.

"So that's where you live?" Jory asked the Friar looking impressed.

Carl nodded "This is the home of the knights of the holy order, engaged in a bloody war to drive the devil's minions from the face of the earth."

Jory's grin widened "Cool it's like the Jedi temple."

Tony pulled his horse up beside Sarah and frowned. "Do you really think the Cardinal will be pleased to see us? He's not exactly going to be thrilled to meet us, the whole other dimension thing might piss him off especially when he realizes Van Helsing kept it from him."

Sarah grinned at him "Well so long as you don't mention the lil' ex-vampire thing I think he might be ok about us."

Tony smirked. "So if I tell him you're a witch there's no problem? He'll just hand you the keys to the Vatican and bugger off to Bethlehem or wherever his holiday home is."

"Sounds like a plan." She returned sarcastically.

They dismounted and began to make their way across the impressive courtyard towards the large wooden doors of the Vatican. The building stretched out in all directions built in the shape of a large cross, it was one of the holiest buildings in the world and, if the lower depths were to be taken into account, the most secretive.

"Lot's of space perfect for the burning of witches and devil worshippers." Tony said grinning sadistically at Sarah who ignored him.

"You know my friend Richard has a T-Shirt that says "Christianity, killing you in the name of God for 2000 years." she said grinning to herself.

The Catholics present exclaimed indignantly at this and Marston stepped up besides her frowning. "Hey! I don't mock Wicca!" he exclaimed. She rolled her eyes and gave him a pointed look.

He smirked "…much."

Sarah laughed "Trust me we mock ourselves enough for you." she said light-heartedly.

As the doors drew closer she slowed her pace and looked thoughtful "Er…out of curiosity, if the witch burnings started again in our time would you turn me in?"

Marston eyed her thoughtfully apparently trying to make up his mind. "Who knows…" he said finally.

At her wide-eyed look he dropped the act and grinned.

"Nah, of course not, if it goes the other way round, would you protect me?"

She laughed. "If Wiccans decided to hunt Catholics down? Yeah, sure I'd let you borrow my ritual robes and everything so you'd blend in."

He grinned "Yeah, and secretly I would be plotting the Catholic uprising."

She laughed "Yeah, but we'd be like mortal enemies then."

"Doubt that much, or we could be a team trying to unite Wiccans and Catholics, but we still outnumber you, so it would never happen." he laughed.

Sarah grinned, "actually I know at least one Catholic - Wiccan so it wouldn't be that hard."

Marston looked at her in shock and confusion. "A Catholic - Wiccan? How can that work?"

Bob caught up with them frowning "Yeah that can't work."

Sarah smiled "Well, all the spells and stuff she does are her prayers to god. Like before she does a tarot reading she says a prayer and when she casts a circle she says "amen" instead of "blessed be." there's really not a lot of difference, we even have a communion, cakes and fruit juice after a ritual. Plus all our holidays are the same with the same meanings behind them." She grinned noticing how Carl was humming loudly to himself trying to block out the conversation.

"Only difference is, that we don't go to church and we don't believe in hell...plus sex is like the most holy thing you can do …"

Tony burst out laughing, "Aha see you just admitted you have mass orgies!"

Sarah glared at him "When did I say that? There are no mass orgies!"

Jory laughed, "Well you do naked spells so why not orgies?"

Amie pushed past the guys and hooked her arm through Sarah's, quickly picking up the pace so they were a little ahead of the guys.

"You know that is not a very safe discussion." she said sarcastically.

Sarah laughed, "Which one? Orgies or Wicca vs. Catholicism?"

Amie rolled her eyes grinning.

Sarah frowned suddenly "Hey what's the difference between Catholics and Protestants anyway?" she asked curiously gazing up in awe at the many carved Angels peering at them from the ancient roof of the massive Vatican building.

The dark haired girl began to explain patiently. "Well, you and me, we're Protestants. Carl, Anna, Marston and Bob are Catholics. It basically means their church is run by the Pope and ours is by the monarchy."

Sarah looked at her amazed that she'd actually paid attention through the torture that was Religious Education. "I have a church now?" she asked in amused amazement "Since when?"

Amie gave her a dumbfounded look. "St. Peters." she clarified naming the large church that sat in the gardens around their part of Burton.

Sarah raised her eyebrows and Amie frowned. "Weren't you christened there…were you Christened?" she laughed at Sarah's amused look. "…I just assumed!"

Sarah laughed, "Nope, never christened thank goddess. Mum wanted me and Kat to make our own choice. Besides can you imagine little baby me hissing as soon as the water touched me?"

"I'm melting oh what a world!" Tony yelled at them, apparently eaves dropping on the whole conversation.

The girls laughed pausing as they finally reached the humbling doors of the Vatican, great carved panels of polished oak towering a good seven feet above them.

"Thank god!" exclaimed Carl in relief.

Anna glared up at the building with undisguised contempt apparently it only served to remind her why the child on her back was fatherless for the time being, and why she had lost so many of her family when aid had not come when it was asked for.

"Maybe we can finally get some answers." she muttered starting up the steps.

Sarah was beside herself with excitement, she was at the doors to the Vatican! The sun was just setting casting a golden radiance over the building, if she looked back over the courtyard she could practically see Van Helsing riding across it after vanquishing Mr. Hyde, his black horse riding full out and his trench coat billowing out behind him.

She took the steps two at a time in her excitement, admiring the massive entrance doors briefly before reaching out and clasping the ornate door handle. With effort she turned it, opened the great door, and stepped into the Vatican.

She paused hearing no one enter behind her and turned to see them all watching her from the bottom of the steps with bemused expressions.

"What?" she asked confused.

"Nothing." Carl stammered walking slowly up the steps to join her. He gave her a bashful look as he walked past. "I just half expected you to get struck by lightening, or at least hear a clap of thunder as you stepped into the holiest of buildings." He said quickly.

Sarah glared at him "You don't have to sound so disappointed." She huffed following him through the great hall hearing her friends' suppressed laughter behind her.

"Gotta admit I expected something to happen. You are evil incarnate." Tony said easily as he caught up to her.

Sarah glared at him "I'm not evil…anyway you're a Buddhist you don't even believe in God."

"Doesn't mean he won't smite you down." he answered grinning.

Marston was practically bouncing in his excitement; he stood grinning widely to himself as he took in the entrance hall. "This is awesome!"

Amie laughed, "Aww bless him, he's as giddy as a school girl."

"Damn right!" Jory laughed. "This place is amazing!"

The teens chattered excitedly amongst themselves, Anna half listened to them the rest of her was on high alert. The open hall was full of monks apparently on their way to evening prayer; cloaked figures hurried here and there shooting the new comers tentative glances as they wondered past.

Several inclined their heads politely in Carl's direction and more than a few smirked as they saw the infamous friar.

She walked up to Carl shifting Velkan in her arms so that she might easily reach her sword if necessary. "Carl, find Cardinal Jinette. I'd prefer to speak to him before the evening mass."

Tony frowned "Shouldn't he be here to meet us? He does know we're coming."

Carl shifted uncomfortably. "Well yes he does know we're coming but there are certain secrecies that must be kept before one simply announces their presence to the Holy order."

"Admit it he's just being rude." Tony glared at one of the passing monks in disdain.

Sarah shrugged an apology for her friend as the monk in question glanced back fearfully, it was passed him that she spotted the confession box. Glancing back at the group she silently slipped away.

"So we're just supposed to wait here until someone decides to come and get us?" Amie asked annoyed. "We've been traveling solidly for nearly a week! I was expecting a fanfair, blankets, a cup of tea maybe?"

Carl sighed, "this is the Vatican not the Four Seasons. The Cardinal is a very busy man, so we wait."

Marston sighed wearily and turned to make a comment to Sarah only to find her missing. He glanced round sharply suddenly alarmed. "Hey where's Sarah?" The group looked around and Tony grinned as he spotted her hovering round the confessional pulling open one of the doors.

"Over there, you've finally converted her Marston!"

Carl turned to look and was horrified to see her entering the Cardinal's side of the confessional. "No you can't do that!" The group watched bewildered as he scrambled to catch her tripping over his robes in his haste.

Bob frowned. "Carl chill out she's only having a look."

They followed him in confusion until he skidded to a halt outside of the confessional and wrenched open the door. Sarah turned with a mischievous grin on her face and sat on the velvet chair regarding them innocently.

Carl stared at her panting. "You can't!" he stammered breathlessly.

She cocked her head to the side the picture of puzzled innocence. "I was just looking Carl." She said sweetly.

He waved his finger at her accusingly. "Don't give me that! Why would you just happen to come into this box?"

Amie stared from one to the other. "I feel like I'm missing something."

Sarah shrugged. "I just think the others might be a bit tired of waiting for the Cardinal. We could be doing something more interesting, going to more interesting places." She stared Carl down. "How about here?" She reached back and pushed one of the carved wall panels gently. Tony jumped as a loud mechanism clicked into place and the panel receded, along with the back wall of both confessionals.

Anna chuckled as the girl got up and turned walking smugly down the exposed corridor. "I don't think she cares much for your rules Carl." She said playfully as she followed.

Carl stared mutely after her cringing as the rest of the group pushed impatiently passed him. "But – but the Cardinal!" Muttering a prayer and an apology he drew his robes tightly round him and slipped into the confessional closing the door securely after him.

The corridor was dark after the brightly lit main building. Here and there torches lit the way as the group crept along and came to the top of a small stone staircase.

"Sarah."

The girl turned as Anna called her she suddenly felt self conscious about rushing unannounced into the strong hold of the Order and wondered if Anna was about to lecture her about it. Instead the princess handed her a red satin scarf. The girl looked at her oddly. "Er…thanks? A bit random though don't you think?"

The princess smiled passing baby Velkan to Amie. She gently reached out and drew Sarah's hair away from her neck exposing her vampiric scars. "I don't think it would be wise to enter this place without concealing some of your past." She explained her voice laced with mild regret.

Sarah flushed and hurriedly wrapped the scarf around her throat. She smiled when she was sure they were completely covered. "Don't want to give the poor lil' monks a shock." She grinned.

The corridor widened after a few moments and the sounds of a busy workshop echoed around them. Hammers beat metal mercilessly and static electricity began to tickle their fingers and pull at their hair. Amie scowled hastily pulling her charged locks into a tight braid. She shot Sarah a look that said she was clearly not impressed, her friend just shrugged an apology but her mind was clearly somewhere else.

The group paused uncertainly as the light suddenly grew stronger and they came to the top of a stairway. Distant voices echoed above the steady thud and clang of the hammers now. It was Jory who took a breath and began to descend first. Sarah heard his gasp of surprise and amazement, feeling the anticipation grow as she followed him down.

It was incredible the film hadn't done the workshops of the Order justice. A cavernous hall propped up by several pillar spread out before them, candle and torchlight illuminated it all with a constant glow kept alight by some of the younger monks who they could see darting between desks and equipment trays of water and food in their arms and sacks of lamp oil at their waists.

Smoke billowed up metallic chimneys to be expelled through secret vents above their heads as the forges worked below. The group jumped as a crude Tommy gun jumped into action somewhere at the back of the cavern muffed cheers rose from the monks around them.

"That's not going to do much against vampires." Carl muttered sulkily as he noticed the boys grinning broadly.

"But imagine what it would do to the zombies!" Marston exclaimed happily. "Could have done with one of them at the Inn!"

They tentatively dropped down the last fee steps finding themselves standing amongst the chaotic scene. Anna began to lead the way ignoring the suspicious glances some of the monks were giving them.

Bob stopped to admire an array of pistols and shotguns standing proudly against one of the pillars.

"I have to get me one of those!" he exclaimed excitedly. "And I want a clashnakoff, everyone loves a clashnakoff!"

Jory joined him. "I want a desert eagle!"

Anna glanced back at them "You'll get nothing if you don't keep up."

Sarah walked up to Amie pointing out the many crossbows on display. "That's more my thing, more traditional."

Amie shuddered. "I don't like crossbows they make my face feel vulnerable."

Sarah laughed feeling lighter than she had for a long time, even when she felt the now familiar breath of cold air on her skin and turned to find Dracula walking beside her she didn't shrink away.

He regarded her with a smirk his armour glinting in the torchlight. "I believe your getting cocky my love." He whispered huskily. She ignored him keeping her eyes firmly ahead where she'd spotted a red robe clad figure delivering a lecture to several men and women. Dracula frowned but didn't fade clearly intending to linger.

The Cardinal paused mid sentence as he saw the unlikely group approaching. For a moment he was completely taken aback much to the amusement of the three young agents he was briefing.

"Princess Anna! This is certainly an unexpected surprise." He exclaimed coldly as the Princess stopped before him.

She smiled "Hardly unexpected father, I understand Carl sent word of our arrival."

He scowled at the Friar who was trying to hide behind Tony unsuccessfully. "He neglected to mention the size of your party." The teens met his heavy browed stare defiantly.

One of the young agents a man with curly blond hair and startling blue eyes stood grinning confidently. "Well now father are you going to introduce us?" he asked with a thick French accent winking at Amie. She smiled politely back then smirked as Bob put a possessive arm round her waist.

The Cardinal glared at the young man disapprovingly. "Princess Anna I would like you to meet Pierre Le Blanc, one of our most successful agents." The young man bowed to the party sending a dazzling smile at Sarah who blushed. The other to figures stepped forward, the second gentleman was somewhat older than Pierre, his features were darker with a hint of Asian decent; he wore a dark silk shirt and leather trousers. The word assassin sprang unbidden to Sarah's mind as he cast his glance calculatingly over the group.

The Cardinal gestured to him absently "This is Hasime, and this charming young lady-" the Cardinal beckoned to the third agent who stepped forward, a tall imposing woman with her hair pulled back in a neat braid and an aura Lara Croft would have been proud of. "This is Miss Sophie Baxter."

Anna greeted them all with polite nods. "Perhaps we could speak in private Cardinal." She suggested meaningfully.

Pierre grinned "Don't let us get in the way, we were just finishing." He announced eagerly clearly glad to have a valid excuse to leave."

Before the Cardinal could protest he'd strode passed he group and disappeared into the crowd. His companions followed swiftly.

"They were agents?" Sarah asked the Cardinal curiously. "I thought Van Helsing was the only one."

He glared at her and she wished she hadn't asked. "It takes more than a single man to win a war." He answered coldly.

"And yet you seem to rely on a single man." Anna challenged.

The Cardinal scowled. "Well I imagine you'd tired after your journey I will have a room set aside for you and your companions and perhaps we will have time to discuss matters before evening."

"Should we not discuss them now? This can not wait Cardinal, the dead are walking and my husband is missing." Anna reminded him. "Does that not seem urgent?"

He held her gaze. "I am well aware that the dead are walking, that is precisely why our agents are being recalled from their missions. They need briefing urgently and I am their Cardinal. Father Gilbert!"

A hooded monk hurried forward at his summons. "Take The Princess and her guests on a tour while their rooms are being prepared."

He turned to leave. "We will speak soon Princess Anna."

They group turned to follow father Gilbert reluctantly. Carl fell into step beside Jory a sigh of relief escaping him "Well that wasn't so bad was it?" he asked cheerfully.

"Carl!" the Friar froze at the Cardinal's voice. "Carl would you remain with me, I would like a word."

Jory chuckled as the poor Friar began to walk reluctantly back to his mentor.

The tour consisted of an endless corridor full of paintings each one a portrait of the many agents, both past and present, of the Holy Order. The corridor began of course with a large portrait of Mary and baby Jesus.

The teens all looked up at the picture with varying degrees of respect, Marston crossed himself and muttered a silent prayer.

Sarah grinned "Hey Jesus thanks for Easter and the chance for me to get high on sugar!" she called.

Marston laughed, "hey he died for more than Easter eggs you know!"

She smiled at him "...ok yeah but the eggs are a plus, my soul comes secondary to chocolate."

Dracula's eyes flashed at this statement his expression suddenly hungry "If I had known that we could have avoided a lot of unpleasantness." he muttered.

She tried not to react as he circled behind her with sharp predatory movements, chilling her with his icy touch as he encircled her waist with his arms. She shivered her skin tingling with goose bumps and the hair on the back of her neck rising.

Marston who was standing closest gave a startled jump at the sudden drop in temperature leaping away from her swiftly and giving her an odd look.

The monk didn't seem to hear them or was pointedly ignoring them. He continued on gesturing to the next painting.

The portrait depicted a beautiful young girl with tumbling blond curls falling over her shoulders and her body dressed in a long red velvet robe. "She looks sad." Marston said regretfully.

The monk smiled "As well she should." He gestured grandly at the piece. "This is Lucrezia Borgia."

He waited a moment for the name to sink in and smirked at Sarah and Marston's shocked expressions.

"She was a member of the Holy Order and daughter of Rodrigo Borgia better known as Pope Alexandro VI and this" he gestured to the portrait of a bearded youth who seemed to be staring at the young woman beside his painting. "This is her brother Cesare Borgia. They were both among the most formidable knights of the order and perhaps the greatest example of the sacrifice that sacred calling demands."

Marston frowned up at the two clearly confused. "But they were sleeping with each other weren't they? She shagged her dad and her brother."

The monk shook his head. "Sadly that is all history will remember of them, they were caught up in too much intrigue and murder. In order to preserve the secrecy of our order certain rumors were spread among the populace and enough circumstantial evidence to satisfy those who had their doubts. Unfortunately those very rumors led to both Cesare and his father's brutal deaths, Lucrezia herself survived for a time until God finally called her home."

Sarah stared at the two portraits tears prickling her eyes. They'd been heroes, like Van Helsing, like Anna and the world would go on to believe the vicious lies that the order had spread. "But, couldn't the Vatican say something now?" she asked hopefully. "Couldn't you say that it was all lies and pardon their family?"

The monk met her gaze uneasily his expression hard. "It is the price of their servitude, to serve God is its own reward and history pales compared to that sacred charge." He turned and led them on to the next painting while Sarah and Tony lingered.

"But…it's not right." Sarah whispered sadly.

"No-one said it was." Tony muttered distractedly.

Sarah sighed, "I don't think I'm going to like this place."

They turned to catch up with the group. "It's not that bad, a little sad but there's nothing too shocking here." Tony assured her. She smiled at him and was about to nod her agreement but froze as her eyes fell upon the next painting.

A knight with long black hair, a handsome face in full armor stared back at her through piecing blue eyes. The monk paused dramatically before the piece gesturing grandly at the portrait.

"This is a portrait of Vladislaus Dragulia, the only son of Valerius the elder." He paused to incline his head respectfully in Anna's direction. "Of course you would know him better as the late Count Dracula."

Sarah shivered as she looked into the eyes of the portrait and the real thing stepped out from the shadows. "A good likeness…surely my nose isn't that pronounced?"

Sarah jumped as Amie stepped through him; she sometimes forgot that he wasn't really there.

Amie gently took her arm turning her gently away from the painting. "You ok? You don't have to look at it if you don't want to." She whispered while the guide continued on. Sarah blinked noticing the looks she was receiving from the rest of the group. They were all clearly worried at the effect the portrait might have on her even Anna was looking at her with concern. She smiled sadly at the Princess.

"Dracula's dead." She said with a dry shrug. "The painting doesn't do him justice anyway." Dracula smiled arrogantly and she returned it. "His nose was much larger in real life."

His mouth dropped and his attention immediately drew back to the painting. "Who knew you were so vain." She whispered as the group passed.

"So why have a picture of Dracula here?" Bob asked suddenly. "Isn't that a bit like hanging a picture of the devil in here or something?"

"Certainly not" the monk exclaimed harshly, clearly offended. "Vladislaus Dragulia was one of the greatest knights of the Order. We honor him as the man he was, not the creature he became. Truly he was tempted away from the path of God and so that serves as a warning to us all."

"He fell in love." Anna stated sharply. The group turned in surprise. "Is that so wrong?"

The monk stuttered for a moment before regaining his composure. "Love in itself is not a sin, but his lover was indeed sinful my lady. She drew him from the path and corrupted him as Eve did to Adam."

Jory coughed loudly and wandered off to admire the painting of a formidable young woman who was sitting surrounded by various weapons and the heads of ten slain gargoyles mounted like trophies on the wall behind her. Sarah, Marston and Tony followed soon after.

"Don't really feel like the women-are-the-source-of-all-evil lecture right now." Sarah said lightly sitting Indian style on the tiled floor.

Tony grinned, "Well you are."

Sarah smirked "and you wonder why you're single?"

Jory gestured back to the painting of Dracula. "Gotta admit am slightly disappointed the Drac-brides aren't up there with him."

Marston grinned, "I don't need a painting I got sandwiched by the real thing." He said proudly.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Are you ever gonna shut up about that?"

He shrugged "sorry, guess I was just too irresistible."

"It was Verona and Aleera right? Verona was the black haired one and Aleera was the red head."

"Think Drac had a thing for girls with "a" at the end of their names." Jory suggested. "Seriously, think about it! Aleer-a, Veron-a…er…who was the blond? You know the one who died at the start, the one that didn't hit on Marston?"

"Marishka." Sarah supplied helpfully.

"That's only cuz she was dead already." Marston amended with a self-satisfied smirk. "They all wanted me!"

Jory pointedly ignored him "Yeah see, Marishk-a, and then he went for Anna, Ann-a and he turned you."

Sarah shook her head apologetically. "My name ends in an H there's no "a" there."

"Yeah there is, Sar-ah it sounds like an "a" and plus most girls with your name don't spell it with an "h"at the end."

"So what, he had a fetish for the letter "a"? So he was insane as well as pure evil." Tony asked.

"He had a lover right? Way back in the days of yur." Marston asked.

Sarah grinned teasingly "Trust you to remember that."

"I'm a romantic."

She laughed and nodded "Yeah he did, so what you think her name ended in an "a"?"

"Why not? Hence the obsession, it's like part of her he can hold on too, like he keeps a part of her and collects it over and over." A manic glint crept into Jory's eye at the thought. "Cool."

They glanced up as hurried footsteps entered the hallway. Cardinal Jinette was stalking towards them from the doorway Carl hurrying behind him with his head slightly bowed like a child who'd just been told off. Sarah smiled at the Friar with sympathy but then drew back slightly as the Cardinal's harsh eyes turned to her and held her in an icy glare. She felt like he was looking right through her and was relieved when he finally turned to Anna with a respectful bow of the head.

"Princess Anna, I apologise for the abruptness of our meeting earlier I was expecting you to wait for my appearance rather than come looking yourself." His words we easy enough but then was an underlying disapproval. Anna's eyes slipped to Sarah briefly. "We felt that time was of the essence Father, there has been too much waiting."

"Indeed, and far too many secrets it seems." His eyes slipped to Sarah once more. "I wonder if I might have your permission for a small examination to be made on your young companion here. Carl has informed me of her…colourful past and I feel for the safety of my Order we must determine her nature."

Sarah scowled "If you don't mind why don't you ask me yourself?"

Anna motioned for her to keep silent. "My husband trusts her and I trust her with my life, there is nothing more we need to discuss about that."

The Cardinal glared at her. "With all due respect Anna, Van Helsing has made many errors in his judgement over the years." He looked pointedly at Baby Velkan who was watching him from Anna's arms. His meaning couldn't have been clearer.

Anna passed the baby to Sarah who took him and held him close; the child immediately began to tug on the delicate red scarf at her throat. The Cardinal stared from one woman to the other and then to the baby his eyes narrowing. "Perhaps we should discuss this matter in more private surroundings."

Note: an abrupt ending I know but promise I'll update as soon as I can!

Review please!


	31. Cardinal Jinette

The Gipper: lol thanks for another great review your really giving me confidence here!

Miss; You check everyday really? Wow that's some commitment lol well here's the next chapter I sailing through as fast as I can hoping to get the next one up when I get back from camping x

Christine Marquez: you want to devour Tony and Marston? Well I'm sure they'll be thrilled when I tell them lol. Yeah the Cardinal is a bit of a bugger but he seems like such a control freak in the movie why the hell would VH put up with that crap!

JeanieBeanie33; Chris is coming up and there will be more of Harker and VH just not in this chapter sorry.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 31

Sarah followed the group reluctantly through the many corridors of the Vatican. The monk's quarters were located in a warren of narrow torchlit passageways, stonewalls surrounded them unbroken by ornaments or paintings just a monotonous passage of dark stone.

The lighting in this place was ominous and the general feeling in the group was like the time she'd been sitting outside the head teacher's office a scared, pigtailed, goofy 9 year old with too large glasses who'd pulled a chair out from under Luke Smith just before he'd sat down. It had been funny at the time until the teacher asked her why she'd done it, how come adults never believed you when you say "I don't know?" She had that same guilty-sick feeling in her stomach now as they walked through a dark oak door and into a small study.

The cardinal walked over to his desk with all the grace of a monarch ascending the steps to his throne. The group settled uncomfortably into the strict wooden chairs that had been provided for them.

"Before we proceed." The Cardinal began. "One of my colleagues has suggested, and I agree, that steps must be taken to insure the safety of the Vatican and the Order in light of our present situation." He fixed Anna with a disapproving stare. "Despite your abjections I'm afraid."

The group turned in surprise as the door opened and an elderly monk hurried into the room carrying a wooden box.

His cloak and hood were pulled over to cover his features each step seeming to cause him great discomfort. Sarah giggled softly to herself.

Bob leant over "What's with you?" he whispered.

"Nothing…it's just that guy just reminded me what I dreamt last night!" she hissed back. It was taking an age for him to make it across the room.

"Which was?"

Sarah grinned, "I was in this huge theatre and death was sitting a few rows up from me!"

"Death?" Amie whispered leaning over her boyfriend.

"Yeah as in: Black cloak, scythe, skeleton hands, the whole thing…there were also many cats."

Amie grinned at her "I dreamt that a monkey was trying to get my Ben and Jerry's chocolate brownie ice cream from me."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah and Sarah that's a normal dream!" Amie hissed. The two girls tried to stifle their giggles as the old monk finally made it to the Cardinal's desk.

"Well?" the Cardinal demanded.

The monk bowed his head with respect ignoring the others. "Father Abbot regrets that he is unable to attend but he recommends that you take certain precautions…" he paused glancing suspiciously around the group. "If it pleases you father, might we discuss this in private?"

The Cardinal smiled "This concerns my guests and I would have them hear what you propose, continue."

The monk bowed. "The vampire girl."

Sarah froze the smile slipping from her face.

"He recommends we determine her nature, whether she is still a threat."

"She is not!" Amie yelled angrily.

Anna glared at her and she fell silent, Bob took her hand his own expression sour. Sarah wished the floor would open up and swallow her only the baby in her arms made her feel any better, he was giggling and chirping softly to himself as he played with the scarf that concealed her scars.

"This isn't necessary Cardinal!" Anna said forcefully standing so that she towered over the elderly monk.

He regarded her coldly like a spoilt child. "I believe it is, you have brought her into the Holy Order therefore it is my right to put her to the question."

Sarah took in a deep breath wishing he'd phrased that one differently. The French used to say "put them to the question." When they were preparing to torture someone. She didn't think anything that drastic was about to happen but still, she wasn't comfortable sharing her traumatic change with the old-man.

The Cardinal now turned to look at her directly. "Please remove your scarf."

"Why?"

He scowled at her. "Because young lady I wish to see the evidence of what you are."

"Used to be." Marston snapped.

She smiled over at him and then gently pulled the material free from Velkan's small fingers and slowly untied it. She gave the free material to the child who squealed his delight.

"Come here." The cardinal demanded.

She stood, feeling suddenly naked and vulnerable without the protective cloth, and slowly crossed the room to stand before his desk. She supposed she should have expected this but she'd been more preoccupied with what the zombies would do to her to worry about the curiosity and open miss-trust she might receive once they reached the Vatican.

Anna took baby Velkan off her, her face apologetic. Slowly Sarah pulled her braided hair aside and tilted her head so the torchlight picked up the two white puncture marks in her throat. The Cardinal scrutinized her for a long moment before signaling to the elderly monk. He hurriedly opened the case and brought out a crude tripod camera. Sarah was momentarily dazzled by the over-bright magnesium flash and the acrid smell of the smoke as he took a picture of her and then she shuddered as his wrinkled fingers touched a tape measure to her throat.

She nearly leapt away from him, no-one had been even close to her throat since Dracula, let alone touched her there! Sweat began to bead on her forehead as she forced herself to stay calm, if the monk felt her trembling he ignored it and continued his intrusive examination. The moment he pulled away she hurried back to her chair hugging herself and sitting as small as she could avoiding her friend's concerned glances.

"Thank you Father Joseph." The Cardinal smiled as his elderly assistant hurriedly noted down his findings. "Now if the rest of you would kindly leave us I would like to question the girl in private." Sarah looked up fearfully.

"Can't they stay?" she pleaded.

"Were not leaving."

"There's noway we're going."

"Whatever you have to ask her you can do it with us here." Her friend's yelled furiously. She smiled at them gratefully.

To her surprise the elderly monk stepped forward. "Actually sir, Father Abbott did not believe that to be necessary."

She sighed in relief. "He seemed to think all we'd need is a blood sample."

Her eyes went wide at that and she saw the monk go into his box again and lift out a large needle with a crude tube connected to a vial.

"There's noway!" she exclaimed immediately.

The Cardinal glared at her. "A sample of your blood or we take this no further, we will offer you no help." This was directed at Anna. "We have information about your husband, all we ask is a little co-operation in return." Anna's expression changed immediately but Sarah was too busy watching the monk crossing the room towards her holding his needle machine like a beloved pet.

"I said no!" Sarah stood up and backed away from the monk. "Anna tell him to stop it!" she pleaded.

The princess didn't look at her, her eyes remained on the Cardinal. "Is this really necessary? I trust her with my life, Carl has studied her and her biology."

The red robed man glanced from her to the Friar his expression hard. "Friar Carl's method's are questionable at best and biased." The Friar flushed fiddling with his robes in embarrassment. "The order would prefer to reach it's own conclusions."

He returned his gaze to the princess. "You know how desperate the situation is Anna, would you endanger your son's future on her account?"

Anna's eyes narrowed at the threat. With a defeated sigh she turned towards Sarah who was eyeing the needle with open apprehension. The monk stepped nervously aside as the Princess approached; she glared at him as she passed then paused in front of the young girl.

"I don't like needles." Sarah said pleadingly.

Anna smiled slightly. "I've never had a fondness for them myself." She confessed.

Sarah looked past her to the needle again then back at the Princess, she visibly deflated. "But your going to ask me to do this anyway aren't you?"

Anna nodded slowly. "One thing though?" Sarah asked. "Can Carl do it?"

The Princess glanced back to the monk and spotted the way his elderly hands were trembling and spasming erratically. She winced "I think that would be reasonable."

It hadn't been as bad as she thought Sarah reflected as she cradled her arm against her chest a cotton pad pressed tightly to the needle mark. The Elderly monk had taken the sample from Carl quickly then made his excuses and left.

"Now Cardinal." Anna demanded leaning against the man's desk. "What do you know of my husband? Where is Gabriel?"

The man slumped back in his chair looking suddenly older his face strained as he beheld the young woman in front of him. "We don't know." He said simply.

Anna gaped at him. "What?"

"He left us almost 7 months ago. The German's have been boasting of his capture and execution for the last few days."

Sarah felt her body grow cold.

"Execution?" Anna whispered. "No…he can't be…"

The teens sat in stunned silence, Carl bowed his head muttering a brief prayer after a moment Marston joined in crossing himself.

The Cardinal sighed. "I'm truly sorry Anna, the world is in turmoil. People speak of apocalypse as the dead rise in their graves until Carl sent word to me of your arrival I had assumed your death to have been among your villages when Vaseria was attacked."

"Where is his body?" Anna asked sharply.

The Cardinal blinked at the interruption. "Idon't know, the reports say he lies in Germany, Berlin where he was hanged."

"Did you see it?" she demanded. He looked at her blankly. "Who reported his dearth? What proof do they have?"

"An agent reported that it was released in a statement from his captors. It was a private execution."

"But that's not proof!" the Princess was beginning to sound slightly hysterical now. Carl stood touching her shoulder in concern.

"Anna…" she shrugged him off violently her eyes sparkling with unshed tears.

"I'll not believe it Carl! Not until I see him." She turned heading for the door. The Cardinal rose swiftly.

"It will do you nor your friends any better to go on a fools errand. If the body lies in Berlin, and by god's will he will not rise again, it will remain there until we can investigate this matter further!"

Anna glared at him. "When will there be time? A Necromancer raises the dead and I will not allow him to do that to Gabriel."

The Cardinal moved round his desk to face her. "The Necromancer is far from Germany and my agents are culling the numbers of the dead. If you truly believe Gabriel lives then you may find him." He told her gently. "But first you must see to your rest, learn what you may and aid us."

The Princess glared at him. "I didn't ask for your counsel." She spat storming from the room.

The group hurried after her. Amie carrying Velkan as they navigated the corridors quickly. Anna paused as she found herself in the open-air courtyard her face upturned to the evening sky and her hair blowing wildly in the wind.

The group stopped short of her though they could still see the thin trail of tears on her cheek. Sarah stepped forward tentatively. "Anna…is there anything –"

The Princess slumped visibly. "Just…I need to be alone for a moment with my son."

Amie bit her lip and brought the baby forward handing him gently to his mother. Anna smiled gratefully at her. "Gabriel's alive." She whispered.

Amie smiled sadly at her. "I know."

"She's been out there forever." Bob muttered leaning back on his elbows.

His friends lay or leaned around him against one large pillar lost in there own thoughts. "What if he is dead?" Marston asked quietly. "Where does that leave us?"

Carl sighed "At the mercy of the devil."

Sarah smiled slightly. "'Bit melodramatic don't you think?"

The Friar shook his head. "Actually I think it's an accurate description of what's happening around us."

"The world's going to hell." Jory agreed evenly.

"Exactly. But can I just point out that it's not our world going to hell." Tony stated loudly. The group turned to stare at him. "Just wanted to point it out didn't expect it to make a difference." He added hurriedly.

"So does this mean were going to Germany now?" Amie asked worriedly.

"The Cardinal wants us to stay here." Carl answered immediately.

Sarah scowled. "Bugger the Cardinal! We'll do what Anna wants, Van Helsing's her husband, she's not one of the Cardinal's lackey's…no offence." She added nodding politely to one of the passing monks.

Carl smiled slightly at her. "You don't believe he's dead either do you?" he asked quietly. The girl looked round at her friends her gaze settling on Dracula who was grinning broadly from the shadows his hurried whispers had followed her from the Cardinal's office. Van Helsing was alive and she knew it for a fact.

"I don't believe it anymore than anyone else in this group." She said confidently.

They sat in silence for a moment pondering that when a familiar figure wandered into the hall. The elderly monk from Cardinal Jinette's meeting spared them all the barest glance as he hurried away to his destination.

"Bloody vampire." Sarah spat. "Look at him all smug cuz he has my blood."

Amie looked up in concern. "Wouldn't that blood be on a strictly need to no basis? We don't exactly want him poking around in our world right?"

Jory grinned and glanced meaningfully at Tony. "Going to pee." Jory announced loudly.

"Me too." They stood and began to hurry across the room.

"But you don't know where the toilets are!" Carl called after them.

They ignored him their eyes on the monk and the case in his hands. He paused by one of the larger pillars to confer with one of his colleges. The boys slipped out of sight. "Got it?" Tony asked eagerly. Jory smiled holding up a small Vatican dart the red feathers removed.

"You'd think Carl would know us well enough to hide these." He muttered dryly.

"Well he doesn't think you'd be stupid enough to carry one around!"

Jory grinned, "Yep he doesn't know me at all."

The monk moved on and they stepped out into his path. "Excuse me father." Tony called. The monk turned startled. "We were wondering if you would hear our confessions?"

He glanced from one to the other suspiciously. "Perhaps later my sons."

Jory smiled "Well you see we don't know if we'll have a later, we could be dead later."

"Freak accidents can happen." Tony agreed. "Not to mention dead people are after us, or we could be in the armory and a sword could slip."

"Yeah, and we'd like to meet God with a clean slate." Jory finished smiling.

The monk looked from one to the other bewildered. "Well…I suppose we could go now."

Jory grinned. "Great lead the way."

Jory slipped into the confessional grinning like a fool, he smirked as Tony held up the dart before closing him in. "Bless me father for I have sinned." He bit his lip to stop from laughing.

Tony hovered outside keeping a look out. Two or three other monks wandered past but then the hall was empty, with quick look around he yanked open the Monk's confessional and darted inside. The dart was in the monk's arm before he could call, out for help. Tony shifted his sleeping form so that it was propped awkwardly against the wall then settled into his seat.

"Lustful thoughts…I wanted to kick a dog once, is that a sin?" Jory continued.

Tony smirked "Yep that's right up there with incest."

"Oh yeah I also had Tony's mum."

Jory laughed at Tony's outraged bellow and fled the confessional running back to the dinning hall. Tony glared after him then checked the hall before opening the sleeping monks case. Taking out the vial of Sarah's blood he shut it again and pulled a hip flask of whiskey out of his pocket, a few careful drips on to the monk's habit and some into his mouth and he was going to be one pissed off man of God in the morning.

The small room the teens had been given to sleep in was barely more than a cupboard. They had entered it late that night to find their bedrolls and saddlebags spread out across the floor.

"Be better sleeping outside in the snow again." Amie's had muttered darkly as they'd all settled down.

Sarah had had no desire to sleep, by rights she should have been exhausted but her mind was racing. Thoughts of Van Helsing and Dracula and when she closed her eyes phantom monks with crazed looks in their eyes and large needles in their wrinkled hands lunged at her from the darkness. Hours passed and her mind wondered to the other agents the Cardinal had spoken of, she pictured armies of them stretching out across Europe and America a sacred duty handed down century after century. The portrait of Lucrezia Borgia emerged out of the darkness and she was reminded of the price some of them paid for their service.

She rolled over staring at the ceiling of the chamber the sound of blankets moving next to her made her glance over. Marston smiled sleepily at her "Can't sleep?" he whispered.

"Nope too much to think about."

He sat up wrapping his blanket around himself. "How amazing is all of this, we're inside the Vatican, actually inside St. Peter's Basilica." She giggled at his enthusiasm.

"Yeah, it is an amazing place." She sighed "But doesn't it all feel a bit wrong to you?"

"How do you mean?"

She sat up running her hands through her hair to tease out some of the knots. "I don't know…the Holy Order just seem so secretive and controlling it's like human life doesn't mean anything to them anymore just as long as they keep their secrets and save face with the rest of the world they don't care what happens to the people around them."

Marston frowned. "Of course they care; it's a war, people suffer in wars."

"I know but it seems so unnecessary, even in wars good people aren't treated like crap even after they die."

Marston nodded in understanding. "This is about the Borgia's isn't it?"

"Everything I've ever heard or read about them it's been incest and murder."

Marston grinned "I know, great story."

She rolled her eyes at him her lips twitching into a smile "I just think it's horrible that all they're going to be remembered for is that.

They saved hundreds of people from who knows what, they deserve better and so does Van Helsing."

She waited for Marston's reaction, he hesitated then sighed wearily. "Sorry to go all catholic on you but, God knows what they've done and that should be enough."

Sarah regarded him closely. "You know in ancient Egypt your name was the most precious thing you had, the pharaohs carved theirs all over their pyramids and temples, even the ones they hadn't built themselves. It was so they would be remembered after they were gone, if they did something terrible then their punishment would be that their name would be erased from history, wiped clean from all records and from the tombs. It would mean they never existed."

She sighed "I just think there must be a better way. It's evil to discard people like that."

"But they're doing it in God's name, at his orders."

"Who's to say they are? God's a convenient excuse to do something bad when it suits you. It's still evil no matter whose name you do it in."

Marston frowned "Ok, I agree the crusades were a bad idea, I agree that the witch burnings were. But this is different; I think what their doing here is good."

Sarah groaned in frustration. "Argh I can't explain what I mean! Its like have you ever read the Chronicles of Narnia?"

"Yeah."

"Well in "The Last Battle" when Narnia's gone Aslan says to this guy that every good deed he ever did even though it was in the name of his evil God was done in Aslan's name, like if he'd done a bad thing in Aslan's name then it would be in the name of the evil god. Right?"

Marston blinked "er…ok."

"So like if you're a devil worshipper and you do something good you've done it in the name of God even though you thought you were working for the devil."

"Why would a devil worshipper do something good? They wouldn't."

"It's just an example."

"But what would they do that was good?"

"I don't know…er…ok you're a Satanist and you…I don't know…you've set a building on fire right? So on the way out you grab a back pack so it's like arson and stealing, only when you get outside there could be…a baby…in the backpack…so you've saved the baby in the backpack whilst thinking you were doing something bad, so instead you did something good."

"What the fuck? Babies…what?" Tony exclaimed lifting up the cover from his eyes.

Sarah and Marston laughed at the dazed look on his face and more so when Jory rolled over with a huge grin on his face. "All I heard was babies in backpacks, which is random."

Marston stretched glancing round at the others who were still sleeping. "So you two haven't slept at all?"

Tony shrugged settling back against his pillow, "I don't sleep I meditate like a Shoalin monk."

"And eaves drop." Sarah added with amusement.

Tony pulled at his blanket so he could raise his eyebrow in superior bewilderment. "Babies in backpacks Sarah, just why?"

"I haven't slept properly for 48 hours and its 4:00am, blame Marston"

"What? Why me?"

Tony grinned at him "You know better than to get her into a religious discussion!"

Sarah laughed and lent over to grab her trousers from the floor she expertly shimmied them on under her blankets then stood straightening the long shirt she'd been wearing to sleep in.

"I'm goin to go see how Anna's doing." She whispered stepping over Amie and Bob.

"Probably sleeping like normal people do." Amie whispered with a sly smile.

Sarah chuckled and knelt next her. "You couldn't sleep either?"

Amie opened one sleepy eye. "I was sleeping right up til Tony said something about babies in backpacks and you know what I'm just not ready for that at the end of a conversation."

The boys sniggered. Sarah grinned then stood and left closing the door quietly behind her. The tiled floor was cool beneath her bare feet and thankfully clear of stones or anything sharp. The torches had long since burned out but the darkness meant little to her vampiric eyesight.

"This sneaking around at night seems to have become a habit." She jumped as Dracula stepped out from the shadows.

"Could you just leave me alone for once?" she hissed turning down the next corridor scanning each doorway in turn.

The Count glided along side her, an annoying smirk on his face. "Admit it, you feel comfortable in the dark."

She glared at him. "If you want to make yourself useful you could tell me where Anna is."

He inclined his head. "Communal living room. Third door on your left." He informed her easily. She glanced down the corridor and stalked purposely towards the door.

"No manners at all." Dracula muttered fading away.

Sarah didn't even spare a last glance back as she approached the door, with a hesitant push she opened it a few inches and spied through the gap. The Living room was a large paneled space full of chairs and study tables for the resident monks. Three armchairs were grouped randomly round the large ornate fireplace that adorned the far wall. She spotted Anna sitting in one of the chairs watching pensively as the logs crackled and burned. She had changed into a simple cotton dress and was cradling Velkan in her arms as he slept.

Sarah paused in the doorway feeling as though she was intruding. Anna glanced up and smiled sadly as she saw her. "Did you need something Sarah?" she asked tiredly.

"No sorry, I just wanted to see if you were ok…"

The princess shifted and gestured to the chair next to her. Sarah closed the door behind her and went to join her, the heat from the fire caressed her skin as she slipped into the chair and curled her legs beneath her.

"It's strange." Anna began staring down at her son. "I'd begun to think that Gabriel would be here when we arrived and now that he's not…" she smiled coldly to herself. "I thought I was passed such foolish dreams."

Sarah frowned. "Your allowed to hope, that's not foolish."

Anna regarded her kindly "Yes, I can hope. But I've been hoping and praying for so long. Sometimes just for a moment I let myself feel the grief and the loneliness and for that moment I feel free."

Sarah looked into the fire, she knew what the princess meant. "We'll find him."

Anna smiled "Is that your hope? Europe believes him dead, how can you be so sure that he's still alive?"

The girl averted her gaze her cheeks hot. "I just – I think we'd know if he was, I think you'd know."

The Princess smiled "That's very romantic of you."

The girl blushed. "Well, you love him and when you love someone like that, when you know them so well you make a link and that's why he'll know what your going to say before you say it, and why you'll have the same dreams at night…" she trailed off "sorry that's corny as hell isn't it."

Anna chuckled lightly "Yes, but it does make me feel better." The princess became suddenly sad looking the girl over. "I'm sorry about the Cardinal."

Sarah sighed absently running her fingers over the scars on her throat. "Nothing I shouldn't have expected I suppose, people don't like vampires 'bit stupid to think they'd like me any better." She looked into the fire. "Anna…I don't think I know what I am anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I just…ever since we got back." She paused trying to gather her thoughts. "Up until we got back here, in your world, I would have said I'm human completely, ok maybe I can see and hear a little bit better than most but side effects happen." She swallowed. "Then suddenly I'm back here and there are people telling me I'm not human, that I'm something else, even Carl."

The Princess frowned. "He said you weren't human?"

"Not exactly but what am I supposed to think when he tells me my blood can open portals?"

"You are human Sarah, but you're changed, I know it's difficult to accept."

Sarah smiled sadly "No it's not, the difficult part is not knowing exactly what's changed and what it means." She gestured to baby Velkan. "Do you think…can I even have children one day? What would it mean if I did." She swallowed and turned looking directly at Dracula who was leaning by the fire his expression sober. "What would they be?" she whispered.

Note; Well I'm off on holiday for a week tomorrow so thought I'd get this up before I went.

Please review!


	32. Father Abbot

I loved writing this chapter! Picture me typing away on my laptop at my back door watching the biggest thunderstorm in months! Thanks to all my reviewers!

JeanieBeanie33, THE GIPPER, Christine Marquez and everyone whose kept up with the story so far! Thanks for bearing with me! Here's a long one for you!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 32

The group awoke in the early morning to cries of alarm. They stumbled from their room to see monks running frantically through the halls bandages in their hands.

Tony grabbed one as he was passing. "What's happening?"

The monk blinked at him then yelled something in Italian pulling free and disappearing with his brethren down the passage.

The group hurried after him until Jory spotted Anna making her way through the corridor her expression troubled. "At least your all alright." She exclaimed with relief when she saw them.

"What's going on?" Bob asked.

The Princess began to lead the way through the hall. "The Hidden chambers were infiltrated last night, several pieces of sensitive equipment were stolen."

"Sensitive?"

"The kind that go 'boom'" Carl called joining them from a side passage. "The nuns have consented to watch Velkan for a while." He informed the Princess who nodded hurrying towards the hidden chambers.

"I heard one of the other Friars talking, lots of equipment has been going missing in the last few months, they don't seem to know who's taking it."

Sarah smiled grimly at the Friar. "Did you enlighten them?"

He shook his head. "The Cardinal knows that well enough he'll have his reasons for keeping that from them."

They entered the main hall, groups of monks were huddled around whispering urgently to each other. "Must be something horrible to have them all like this, what was taken?" Marston asked curiously.

Anna shook her head. "That's not what's got them like this." She explained. "The weapon was already used in the forests just outside of Rome. It was a device that utilized large amounts of Carl's Glycerine 48."

Sarah winced at that. "Was any body hurt?"

The Princess nodded pausing in front of a large oak door she opened it and the few monks and nuns within turned to give her the barest glance before they continued their prayers. The room looked like a small chapel whatever chairs and pews had been there were now serving as morgue slabs.

Sarah brought her collar up over her nose and mouth to keep out the smell that the censors were doing little to mask. Behind her Amie gagged and was led out of the room again by Bob and Jory.

"Oh my God that's…don't we know them?" Marston asked shaken as he spotted the face of the nearest corpse. It was Pierre Le Blanc, the agent they had met on arrival the previous day, his blond hair matted with dust and blood and his startling blue eyes glassy as they stared back at the boy.

Sarah bit back sudden tears as she recalled his carefree smile; he'd only left yesterday. His companions were laid out next to him barely recognizable through burnt flesh and hair.

"Can we go?" she whispered. Tony put a tentative arm around her shoulders and led her from the room. She sank against the wall in shock. "The Necromancer did that."

Carl stood in front of her. "He's getting too close, this is the first direct attack the Holy Order has suffered."

"Do you think he'll try to raise the bodies?" Bob asked horrified.

The sound of a sword striking and the dull thud of a decapitated head hitting the floor sounded from the room amid horrified wails from the nuns and monks in attendance. Sarah nearly vomited, more from the fact that she knew what something like that sounded like than anything else.

"He won't get the chance." Carl answered solemnly.

The teens spent the day in their dormitory keeping out of the way of the monks as they hurried to their prayers and worked to strengthen the security of the order.

Sarah looked around at the solemn faces of her friends.

"You didn't think this would all end once we got to Rome did you?" She asked sadly.

Marston looked affronted "Well, yeah. You know big-secret-underground-god-army. It's up to them now right?"

Jory grinned manicall.y "Yeah except they've been infiltrated by the enemy."

"But they're an army." Amie said hopefully. "They can handle that."

"So why are we still here." Tony asked.

"We're here to save Van Helsing." Sarah stated proudly.

Tony gave her a pointed look. "Well we can't do that stuck in this place can we?"

"I thought, once we got here we could maybe – go home?" Amie winced as they all turned to stare at her. "Ok forget I mentioned it." She muttered hurriedly.

Sarah shook her head "No it's alright Amie. Time for an option, if you want to go home that's fine, any one who wants to go home can go. But I'm staying I'm going to see this out, save Van Helsing maybe the world…"

Marston frowned "Look Sarah no-ones saying that were going to go, we wouldn't leave you here alone and you know that." She smiled at him gratefully.

"We couldn't leave even if we wanted to" Jory added cheerfully his tone belaying the seriousness of their situation.

They all pondered that for a moment until Sarah stood. "Right well you think about that then I'm going to get some air."

The night was cool, a gentle breeze whistling through the pillars and statues that adorned the courtyard outside St. Peter's Basilica. Sarah felt her spirits lifting as she looked up and saw an endless blanket of stars, give it another hundred years or so and you'd be lucky if even one star could be seen in this place, light pollution would drown them out.

"What do you think of the Cardinal?" a silky voice enquired.

She turned not surprised to see the phantom Count standing behind her his own face up turned to the heavens. The torches played across his armour giving him a flaming aura as though he were standing in hell.

"He's…something I can't say out loud on Holy ground."

He smiled "You don't believe in our God." He stated evenly.

"Doesn't mean I don't respect him." She countered.

The Count grinned at her. "What?"

"Your warming up to me." He said confidently.

She laughed scornfully. "I don't think so."

"Then one must wonder why your finding excuses to be alone? Why didn't you ask any of your friends if they wanted to come out with you?"

"I wanted some time by myself."

"When you know its safe to talk to me."

She glared at him. "This may shock you but not everything I do is about you."

"But some things…" he left the implication hanging and smirked proudly.

Sarah opened her mouth to answer when something sharp connected with the side of her head. She cursed reaching for the sword that she'd left by her bedroll, her foot caught something and she glanced down to see a smooth rock by her foot movement caught her eye and she ducked in time to avoid the second one.

"Hey! Who's throwing that!" she called out angrily scanning the dark courtyard.

Several youths broke from their hiding place behind one of the pillars. One regarded her for a moment before he launched another rock in her direction. "Strega!" he called to the delight of his friends.

"That means…"

"Witch, I know." She muttered scowling after the retreating youths.

Dracula grinned. "Perhaps talking to nothing in a public courtyard was not the best idea do you think?"

She glared at him turning on her heel to re-enter the building. Just as she approached the wall a figure broke from the shadows and plowed into her, taken by surprise she yelped as they pushed passed her, staggering back she tripped and threw her arm out to break her fall. Pain ripped through her hand at the impact and she gritted her teeth.

When she glanced up her attacker was standing a few meters away laughing and shouting excitedly in Italian. When he met her gaze he nearly pissed himself with fright and ran back to join his friends who had appeared lurking at the entrance to the courtyard. She watched them run away. "Reminds me of Burton. Same chavs no matter what dimension your in."

Rising she looked mournfully at the bandage across her palm noting how crimson began to bloom along the dirty fabric.

"Can't keep re-opening you," she muttered cradling it to her chest. Infection was something she couldn't deal with right now. A glance around confirmed that Dracula had disappeared back to where ever it was he lurked these days.

Walking back into the Vatican she hurried down the dimly lit corridors stopping a passing monk. "Um excuse me father but do you know where I can find Carl?" the man stared at her blankly then mumbled a few words of Italian, blessed her and hurried on.

"Er…ok thanks, that was helpful." she mumbled, turning she jumped as she found another monk standing before her his face completely covered by his hood.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you." he said cheerfully in a thick Italian accent, lowering his hood to reveal a handsome face framed by brown hair which had been shaved in a circle on top.

She returned his smile. "No, sorry my fault, er you wouldn't happen to know where Carl is would you…or who Carl is?" she asked hopefully.

He smiled "Friar Carl, yes I know him well, I believe he's in a meeting with the Cardinal and Princess Anna at the moment."

"Oh." he smiled at her disappointment.

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance," he offered extending his hand. "My name is Father Abbot."

"Sarah." she took his hand and shook it wincing as the re-opened wound burned in response. Noticing her wince of pain the monk gently turned her hand and examined the bandages.

"I cut it about two weeks ago, I was hoping Carl could treat it again. I fell outside and it re-opened."

Father Abbott smiled warmly "Well I happen to be one of the resident healers of the Vatican so it would be your lucky day."

For one strange moment she felt a fleeting surge of fear as he took her arm and began to lead her in the opposite direction but it passed as quickly as it came.

He led her down a long flight of stairs and turned into a torch lit corridor. She shivered reminded suddenly of Dracula's lair. The Monk eyed her curiously but remained silent until they reached a small wooden door.

As they stepped inside she found herself in a low cavernous chamber. Candles lit most of the interior and her host bustled about lighting some more torches on the wall. He gestured for her to settle herself on a small chair while he lit the fire. The walls were covered with shelf upon shelf of dusty books and artifacts. It was so much like the interior of Valerius manor's tower that she had to shake herself to make sure she hadn't slipped into a bizarre dream.

Father Abbott patiently heated some water and carried it over to her in a bowl producing some clean bandages from a small cupboard.

"This is my private office," he explained. "The Cardinal likes to put me and my research far from where I will be under his feet." He smiled at her "I tend to make a mess when I get overly enthusiastic."

"I know what you mean, Carl used to have the manor covered in books…" she trailed off unsure as to whether she was revealing too much but the Abbott didn't seem to notice her discomfort.

"You arrived with the Princess yesterday, yes?" he enquired unwrapping her bandages.

Sarah grimaced when he applied a strong smelling alcohol to the wound dabbing carefully. "Yes, sorry to be such a bother you must have better things to do then sort me out."

He smiled "Nothing is more important."

She glanced around the room; she could distantly hear the sounds of weapons being forged beyond the walls, which meant they were close to the holy order's secret workshops. Her eyes swept the shelves and she blinked in surprise as she spotted a large black book, the spine facing her and the title written in gold in the runes of Honorius, also known as the witches' alphabet.

'Grimore' she'd studied the code enough to recognize that word. It was a book of shadows! She looked back at the monk quickly; he was talking pleasantly about Carl's younger days oblivious to her stare. How could a monk have a book of shadows?

"There we go, how does that feel?" he folded his arms in satisfaction as she examined her newly bandaged hand. The bindings were tight and he'd placed a leather fingerless glove over it.

"It feels great thank you."

"The leather will save you from any more accidents." he explained grinning. She flexed her fingers experimentally pleased that there was no more pain.

She stood to go and he followed gesturing towards the small kitchen at the back of the room "I don't suppose I could tempt you to stay for a cup of tea?" he offered smiling disarmingly. Sarah was tempted but decided against it. "Thank you but my friends will be worried, I should really get back."

"Of course. You remember the way?"

She nodded confidently edging towards the door, eager to leave but not to seem rude.

"Well then I'll see you out." he walked her to the door and her eyes flickered once more to the Grimore. She glanced away quickly hoping he hadn't seen. "It was nice meeting you and thank you again for this" she held up her hand again. "It definitely feels better."

He smiled "A pleasure and a merry meeting is always welcome." his eyes sparkled "As is a merry parting and a merry meeting again." He grinned closing the door and leaving her stunned.

"Merry meet, merry part and merry meet again." a Wiccan greeting and goodbye. Did he know what she was? Was he teasing her?

Sighing she glanced up and down the dark corridor and began to walk back the way she had come.

After a while she began to feel uneasy as the corridor stretched further ahead with no sign of the staircase that would lead her back to the upper levels. This wasn't right it should have only been a meter or two back. Turning she looked back and couldn't make out the door to Father Abbott's office any more, she'd definitely gone too far. She couldn't have gone the wrong way. Taking a breath she doubled back retracing her steps, her hand was on the far wall so she would feel the entrance to the staircase even if her eyes were playing tricks.

Time passed, too much time. No door and no stairs just an endless stone corridor, she paused again glancing up and down the dark passage her breath becoming rapid, this just wasn't possible. A few more steps and then she was running, her feet pounding the hard stone floor her hand rushing over the wall. Any second and she'd feel it disappear into the staircase, any second. She ran for what felt like hours, her lungs were burning, her hand was bruised and warm from the friction with the wall. Nothing, just stone, just wall.

Stumbling to a halt she lent against the stone for support struggling to catch her breath and push down panic. This was stupid.

"Father Abbott!" she called hopefully. "Father Abbott? Anyone?"

The tunnel echoed her words mocking her with them. Mild claustrophobia began to set in and she closed her eyes as the space around her seemed to shrink. Her throat burned with sudden thirst and she would have given anything for the monk to appear with his offer of tea.

A sudden breeze ruffled her hair and she turned quickly towards it. Was it a way out? The staircase perhaps? She jogged towards it but as quickly as it came it dissipated. She stopped waiting for it to begin again; it was then that she heard footsteps approaching from behind her. "Father Abbott?"

She turned expecting to see someone coming towards her, the corridor was empty for as far as she could see, and she could see farther than any one even in this darkness.

"Father Abbott?" The footsteps continued and she backed against the wall. It sounded as though they were right in front of her. No one was there and the footsteps stopped Sarah screamed as unseen fingers brushed the side of her face. Forcing herself to calm down she looked around for cobwebs, dark place like this must have cobwebs, they'd fallen and touched her, they must have.

She searched in vain, her vampiric sight scanning for loose plaster, dust, anything. The walls were spotless; the stone clean and dust free.

"Ghosts." she breathed. "Not more ghosts." she didn't sense Dracula's presence, this was something else, someone else. 'Just dead people, probably a monk, monks are good.' she told herself.

"I-if there's any one there…" 'Definitely missed my calling on most haunted' she thought dryly. "If anyone can show me the way out…I'd appreciate It." she finished lamely.

She waited but nothing happened. "Damnit Dracula! Your supposed to be my guide so guide me!"

She jumped as a dry chuckle sounded behind her. Turning she spotted a figure standing further down, he wore a monk's habit, the hood obscured his face but she could feel his eyes upon her. She swallowed. "Er…Hi, sorry, been down here awhile, losing my mind you know." she explained cheerfully but her voice trembled.

The figure took a step closer. "You'll find the dead can be willfully unresponsive." came the eerie response.

Sarah frowned "Right…" she glanced uneasily back up the tunnel. "You couldn't show me the way out could you? I've been gone a while my friends will be getting worried."

The hood rustled silently and she shuddered to think he was laughing at her. "Your friends, they don't worry about you." he said sounding amused.

Sarah took a step back getting slightly freaked out. "Oh yeah they do, you know if I'm gone for more than I say they come charging in swords out…" of course she'd left her sword in the dormitory, why should she need one in the Vatican? Stupid! "Wouldn't want them to hurt you."

Another dry laugh "How sweet of you to be concerned Sarah."

She froze her heart speeding up. "Sorry, I don't think I told you my name. But since you know it I'd like to know yours father…?"

"Oh Sarah, you already know me."

"I do?"

She caught the barest hint of a grin beneath the hood. "You've known me since you stumbled into this world, since you drove off my creatures at the inn and when you watched the crew of the Demeter meet their fate. I'd say you know me very well."

She stood in shock for a second before her feet caught up with her thoughts and she bolted. She could hear him laughing behind her, in front of her, the sound surrounding her. She didn't care that she wasn't going to get out of the passage it was enough that she put as much distance between her and the Necromancer as she could.

Another figure appeared ahead only this time armour glimmered in the torchlight and Vladislaus had fear and concern in his eyes. She reached out for him but suddenly felt something winding itself around her legs. With a cry she crashed to the floor, her knee bouncing painfully off the stone. She looked up pleadingly at Dracula but he seemed frozen watching something behind her, her legs still paralyzed, she turned and found the Necromancer mere feet away walking with calm purposeful steps.

"Want do you want?" she cried struggling to crawl back from him.

He paused in front of her, too close. "I want you to join me willingly."

She blanched at him "You're joking! There's no way in hell I'd join you!"

The necromancer crouched in front of her; gently he lifted her chin meeting her eyes with an almost fatherly gaze.

"Let me show you what will come if you refuse to join me, if you and your friends defeat me and escape me alive…let me show you…" his voice drifted becoming hypnotic, shadows consuming the passage around her.

Sarah found herself in a large cemetery the daylight hampered by thick rain clouds and the drizzle they created, a clique movie funeral look surrounded the whole affair, more so when she glanced to her left and spotted a gathering of black clad mourners around a coffin.

"Take a look." The necromancer's voice whispered though she could not see him. He was an invisible guide in this vision.

Seeing no other option and needing to satisfy her own morbid curiosity, she began to approach the funeral. The rain didn't touch her, nor did the wind ruffle her hair as it was doing to the mourners. She glanced down at herself noticing the ethereal glow that surrounded her body.

"Stop." Came the sudden command, and she reluctantly obeyed.

She was beside an old woman.

The old lady was stooped slightly at the shoulders, her unusually long white hair in a French plait that extended to her waist. The worn and lined old face was empty of expression, the sign of one who could shed no more tears even if they wished it, one who had seen a lot of death.

She was a stranger to Sarah…but…there was something familiar about her, the way she stood, the way her hand was grasping something at her throat, rubbing the skin raw in a particular spot over the blue veins that stood out dramatically there.

Frowning Sarah's gaze travelled over the mourners, each and everyone seemed to remind her of someone in subtle ways. Unsettled she addressed her captor, already aware that these people would not hear or see her.

"What is this meant to show me? I'm not impressed."

A dry chuckle reached her ears, carried by the wind momentarily drowning out the catholic priest heading the ceremony. "Yay though I walk though the valley of the shadow of death…."

"You are very impatient." The necromancer observed his voice thick with anticipation. "The old woman..." he prompted, "Is she familiar at all?"

Once again Sarah's attention fell on the lady at her side; silent tears were falling from her wrinkled and sunken eyes now and she made to wipe them away, her hand finally stopping its rhythmic rubbing of her throat to pass over the tear filled blue eyes.

Sarah's heart stopped and jumped sickeningly in her chest.

"Yes…you know now." He whispered a sadistic smile on his face as he reached out and gently brushed away her tears with his thumb though she could not feel his touch.

Dracula stood behind her body, keeping an unseen vigil over his distressed bride, a dark guardian angel that placed a phantom hand on her shoulder.

His touch she felt, and she took comfort in it as she stared at the tiny white puncture scars he had created, standing out vividly on the old woman's wrinkled skin.

Sarah looked upon herself…the frail old lady she would become; she noted with deep sadness that no one was standing with her. An old wedding ring glimmered on her left hand the Celtic knot of eternity etched in the bright gold…but there was no husband to be seen around her.

Hesitantly, Sarah glanced passed the woman and looked at the grave. The coffin was being lowered mechanically into the dark earth, momentarily obscuring the name on the head stone.

She watched the grey top appear and then inch by painful inch the stone revealed itself…letters shone in the marble, a name she knew well:

_Here lies Robert Charles George Wain_

_Beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend…_

Bob…it was Bob's funeral. 'Grandfather?'

Shaking in shock, Sarah glanced around at the mourners.

The man to her right had Bob's eyes…the little baby in his arms, his black hair. She could see him in all of them and she realised some had Amie's eyes.

That was why she had felt she knew them, or something in them. These were Amie and Bob's family…but if Bob was dead why couldn't she see an old woman that looked like Amie? Why wasn't her friend standing with her, mourning for her husband?

She walked around the mourners seeking and searching for an old but familiar face. Surely her other friends would be here? However many years in the future this was, after all they'd been through they would be here…wouldn't they.

"They are here." Whispered her guide laughing harshly in away that made the hair on her neck stand on end. "Next to the priest…go."

She almost ran to the priest passing carelessly through people in her haste and need to see at least one of her friends alive and well, to know that in her old age they would still be there…to forget that she was witnessing Bob's burial.

"Stop!" she froze meters away from her target. "Look down…the headstone beside your friend's grave. Read it."

She trembled as she caught sight of the white stone by her side. "No…I don't want too." She whispered shakily.

"You will look!" said the voice forcefully.

"No…please."

"Look or I will end this future now by sending your friend to his death earlier than this vision shows!" the necromancer spat frustrated at her refusal. She didn't know the extent of his power, for all she knew he could kill her friends just by willing it, they were just above their heads in the Vatican.

A phantom touch brushed her temple and the sensation lent her strength.

Dracula caressed her face willing her to obey.

As the mourners around her began to walk away and the sound of damp earth landing heavily on wood sounded behind her. Sarah knelt before the marble stone, her hand feeling out the name on it before the words entered her mind.

_Here lies Amie Louise Wain_

_Beloved wife…_

A loud mournful cry escaped her throat and she began to sob beside Amie's grave, not able to bear to read the rest. She knew none of it was real…that it was all a vision, a possible future. Forcing herself to stand she stepped back and unintentionally, through her older self who had approached the graves behind her.

Her future self was placing some flowers atop the newly turned soil of Bob's grave. The only mourner left in the cold damp cemetery, she stood before the marital graves that were side by side.

"Only two weeks apart…" she whispered to the silent stone in a rasping echo of what her voice had once been many years ago.

"I told you Amie…that he couldn't bear to be away from you for long." A ghost of a smile lit the old woman's face "you always were joined at the hip…" she began to cry silently again and Sarah joined her, that sad old woman in the cemetery alone…this was her future?

"Where are the others?" she asked brokenly to the disembodied voice of the necromancer that had brought her to this place. "My family? My sister…do I have children? Do they have grandchildren?...please tell me."

"Watch and listen…" he said coldly.

The old woman stood and Sarah saw for the first time that this area of the cemetery was a private garden of sorts with many stones in a circle…six stones including the two she stood before.

A great sigh of longing escaped the wrinkled mouth and the woman addressed the circle. "I miss you all…we had fun didn't we? We survived…" she trailed off her voice faltering as new tears came, and she clutched her chest suddenly wheezing, gasping for breath.

Sarah walked from one grave to the next, her hand over her mouth, her throat tight and painful as she read the names one by one:

_Tony Billy Joel Hong_

_Christopher Murray_

_Jory Champion_

_James Timothy Nicholas Marston_

She turned away from them not wishing to see the dates…she didn't want to know. "Why are you showing me this?" she cried. "I know we will all die!" she saw her older self collapse alone in the centre of the circle, an old woman suffering an agonising heart attack.

"I know I will die! I accept it but I don't want to see it! I don't!" she sank to her knees, her luminous hand stretching out to hover above the old woman's head as she saw her own blue eyes widen with understanding at the moment of natural death. Beyond the body another grave stood out from the others.

_Helen Page_

_Wiccan and Beloved wife and mother _

With renewed sobs as she realized even her Wiccan friends were no more, Sarah turned back to stare at her own dead face.

Suddenly the necromancer appeared in his physical body opposite her, staring down at the old woman with obvious distaste.

"Look at you…look at what you could become. Shrivelled, old, alone and surrounded by death!" he roughly pulled her up from the floor holding her head in place to watch her own death.

"No family…they all died. The years of your life have been spent in cemetery after cemetery, funeral after funeral, friends, lovers, and parents all gone! You've lived in black for years, dressed in funeral clothes! Everyday a new friend to bury, to mourn for…

Don't you think it ironic that you were the first of your group to die and yet you're the one left standing at each and everyone of their funerals?

You die alone, as you have done before…your greatest fear is realized for the third time in your life! Only there is no one left to mourn you…no one left.

They will find you here laying on your friends graves…a pathetic creature that could have been something great! A bride of Dracula who defied him and paid the price!

Had you been loyal to him from your turning he would still be alive today! This future would show you unchanged, your friends beside you in immortal glory if you had so wished…they would never have left you then! But you betrayed your master!" he spat.

Sarah wept openly at this; unable to voice the injustice she felt, the anger at the man before her…she never had and never would regret her decision in regards to Dracula. She knew what she was doing then and she accepted it…accepted mortality.

The necromancer continued his tirade forcing her on her knees before each stone, making her read the inscriptions and look at the photos of her friends before they had passed.

"This is death! This is the end of all you know and all who know you…Anna and Van Helsing passed brutally in their world, the Friar years before them, a victim of his own vulnerability…" he pushed her forwards over the glassy eyes of the dead old woman.

"And you die ALONE!" he said again playing on her fear.

Tears blinded the girl once more, terror in her heart.

"All you have to do to change this…" the necromancer whispered crouching beside her, his voice soft and fatherly once more. "Is join me…control the dead…revive them. Your friends will never leave you alone then, your family will live forever, you will never die, you need never grow old…you would have eternity surrounded by the people you love."

Sarah had stopped crying and was staring at him, her expression unreadable, and her reaction unclear.

"Within you, you hold the blood of Dracula. He is in your veins. Join me and we will bring him back, you will have another chance to live as my apprentice and ally. If you refuse… if you survive to get back to your own world, all that you see may come to pass…but you may not survive and you will watch your friends die one by one."

Sarah's gaze drifted to a photo beside Jory's grave, its edges were worn and frayed but she saw herself as she was now, in fact she remembered her friend Aran taking the picture over a year ago.

Before they went camping, before all of this began. She was smiling at the camera all of her friends around her, grinning and laughing. Amie was peeking out from behind her hand, bob trying to pull it away from her face.

Tony was sat next to them looking startled, his pint glass at his lips caught by surprise. Marston held up his hands in his trademark "extreme" gesture, a grin lighting up his beaming face as he leant over Sarah who laughed at the camera. Chris laughing with them from the next seat as Jory proudly toasted the camera with his double whiskey.

They'd been through too much after that photo was taken and now they were going through it again.

Suddenly the graves vanished, the grey light of day replaced by the flame lit darkness of the underground chamber. Sarah closed her eyes tightly, and then blinked as though she had awakened from a deep sleep, though her body didn't feel well rested.

A blurry figure was kneeling in front of her. It took her a while to focus on Dracula's spirit and she stared at him dumbly for a few moments. He opened his mouth to speak but said nothing as the Necromancer stepped purposefully through him to stand above her.

"That was a possible future, the happiest outcome if you will." he told her from the shadows of his hood. "If you and your friends defeat me and get back to your own world, that will be your future. If you choose to defy me still, if you fight me then this will be your future." He waved a hand in front of her eyes and she saw baby Velkan lying still in the snow, his skin blue and decaying. Anna was beside him her throat torn and bloody.

The scene changed and she was in the Vatican corridors. The floor was stained in blood, bodies covered the rich mosaics, Bob was lying among some of the dead monks…or at least his head was, the rest of him wasn't even in sight.

Sarah gagged but the images filled her vision. Marston was in the court yard, wide eyed and staring, his hands still trying to stuff his intestines back into the ragged gash across his abdomen a silent scream on his features.

"Stop it!" she screamed.

But still they came. Amie torn limb from limb, mauled to death by an unknown beast, Tony floating in a pool of vicious green liquid, his body slowly being eaten away by the acid that had seeped into his lungs and through his eyes.

Jory had fared no better; his body was hanging from the wall sickeningly crucified by toga blades in his arms and feet, the flesh torn where his own weight had dragged him down. Then she saw another body, one she knew as well as the others, one that shouldn't have been there.

Chris lay staring up at her in a pool of his own blood, part of his skull had been torn away and the grey matter of his brain strewn across the blood soaked floor.

The vision broke and Sarah vomited hoping bitterly that she'd gotten it all over the Necromancer's shoes. No such look.

"Make your Choice." He ordered smugly.

She gasped and heaved at his feet, pathetic and worthless. She could feel Dracula at her back, for all the good he was doing her. Make a choice, how could she do that? She wouldn't do that. Thinking quickly she spotted one of the flaming torches directly above her, testing her legs she found that she was still paralysed.

The Necromancer waited patiently. The girl didn't meet his gaze. "Let me stand first." she whispered silently, brokenly.

He waved his hand and the paralysis left her. It took her a moment to get her strength back so she leant against the wall using it as support for her trembling body. Such a frail creature.

She dragged herself up until her hand was close enough and then using all of the speed Dracula's blood gave her she grasped the torch from it's brace and threw it at the Necromancer. He stumbled back in surprise as it caught on his robes.

Taking her moment Sarah ran. The walls flickered in an out of focus, whatever spell the Necromancer had on the passage was failing. She caught glimpses of Father Abbot's door and then further on, the staircase! But all at once it faded again.

"It's an illusion." Dracula whispered somewhere beside her.

But it didn't help; she still couldn't see the stairs. Looking round frantically a flicker of movement caught her eye. She hurried towards it and to her astonishment found a young deer standing a little way in front of her, it's head turned curiously in her direction. It regarded her for a second before calmly turning and walking through the wall next to it.

Sarah hesitated for a second before she hurried forward and faced the wall. All she had now was blind faith and if she was wrong she was about to smash her skull open.

With a deep breath she lowered her head and charged.

Her blood roared in her ears and she braced herself for the sickening crunch of her skull on the ancient bricks. The necromancer let out a furious bellow, but he was far from her now, to far to stop her. She forced her arms by her side, closed her eyes and the next thing she knew her foot caught something hard and with a wild yell she stumbled forward.

For one confused moment she couldn't look, couldn't open her eyes through fear of what she might find. Finally she peeped out from behind her lashes and nearly laughed aloud as she found herself sprawled on the narrow winding staircase. Her skirt was tangled around her thighs and her legs were scratched and bloody. Breathing heavily she turned and bolted taking the stairs two at a time.

The light became brighter and she suddenly emerged into the inner hall of the Vatican.

Sarah staggered a few feet from the stairwell before collapsing against one of the pillars. She braced herself against it relishing the feel of the cool marble against her burning skin, her legs trembled and she slid to the floor bracing herself against the pillar as she fought to catch her breath. She gulped down the air feeling a breeze brushing her face from one of the many windows; if she looked up she could see the night sky through one of the sky lights.

He was in the Vatican, the Necromancer himself. A hooded figure hurried past and she jumped in alarm thinking that he'd followed her but the monk merely muttered in Italian hurrying on, another followed him and another crossed his path. There were too many of them all wearing the same dark habit the hood pulled too far over their faces. He could be any one of them.

Sarah swallowed sudden panic her throat hurt from thirst and her legs trembled but she had to find Anna. Using the pillar for support she climbed steadily to her feet her eyes scanning from one hooded figure to another. She turned and one was standing right in front of her. A piercing scream escaped her throat and she staggered back.

"Sarah what's wrong?" the familiar voice calmed her somewhat and the figure lowered it's hood to reveal Carl's concerned face.

She stared at him before launching herself into his startled arms. "Oh god Carl I thought…he's here."

Note: When she's reading 'Grimore' I did insert the actual word in the witches alphabet but the upload didn't let it into the final document. Please review!


	33. Choices

Note: Well I hope people will still read this, I've become a little bit of a career girl so sadly my writings taking a bit of a back seat. Blame my boss and her haunted Castle (I'm not joking either can't spend a day at work without dark figures walking past the door or something flying across the room!)

Here's chapter 33 finally thanks to everyone whose still sticking with my story hopefully I'll get my act together in the next few weeks and aim for regular updates!

Thanks to all my reviewers!

X-kate-X: Thanks for a great review!!! It's great for my confidence when people really seem to enjoy my writing (and makes me feel really guilty when I don't update lol)

Christine Marquez: So your suspicious of Father Abbot? You'll have to keep reading to find out if you should be or not! So here's the update you keep asking me for I officially give you permission to shower me with abuse every time I take too long to update! Xx

JeanieBeanie33: I think it would be the worse thing in the world to be immortal and alone, can't imagine anything worse so a lot of my fears are in this story and hopefully I portray them well enough. Gave myself some fun nightmares with that last chapter anyway, I know I creeped Marston out good and proper.

THE GIPPER; lol you never know I might get into a bad mood and just decide everybody should die. Thanks for another great review hope you'll keep reading!

Helioqueen; thanks for the advice, sometimes I do feel like the stories running away with me hopefully I'll be able to stay on topic all the way through.

filteredlight: Yay new reviewer!!! Thanks for the review hope I haven't made you wait too long for this!

Chapter 33

Carl handed Sarah a glass of water and she gulped it down greedily muttering her thanks as he went to refill it. The Cardinal sat opposite her watching her over his steepled fingers. She shifted under his scrutiny looking around the small office with forged interest and trying not to feel the dull aching of her exhausted limbs.

"You say he was in the lower part of the building." He repeated. She looked up and nodded her agreement for the thousandth time.

"Near Father Abbot's room."

"What were you doing out alone at this time of night?" Carl asked handing her another water. She stared at it.

"I just wanted some air."

The Cardinal looked at her sternly. "Foolishness!" he said sharply. "After today's casualties no one should be walking alone even within the Vatican limits." She flushed angrily.

"I know it was stupid…"

He nodded sharply. "If you continue to act rashly I will have Anna confine you to your quarters."

She glared at him sulkily, her hands were still shaking from her encounter and he was treating her like an eight year old? "Fine, whatever but the point is the Necromancer's lurking around here somewhere! Isn't that more important? Shouldn't you be mobilising the troops, searching the base?"

The Cardinal sighed impatiently. "Clearly your shaken but it's late and it's very easy to get lost in the lower levels when you don't know your way. You admitted yourself that you were feeling panicky when you couldn't find the stairs."

Sarah glanced from the Cardinal to Carl in confusion. What was he suggesting?

"There are a number of monks who walk the levels at night and you didn't see his face correct?"

She sat back shocked tears pricking her eyes. "You don't believe me?"

"It's not that we don't believe you." Carl recoiled slightly at her pointed look. "It's just…you were acting slightly hysterical."

Sarah froze staring at him in disbelief how could he say that to her, after everything they'd been through.

The Cardinal nodded "I agree, the past few days have been more than a little stressful for you…and given your history…" He paused fixing her with a calculating stare. "Well, some delusions are expected."

She felt the blood drain from her face and gaped at him in horror, Carl avoided her eyes staring instead at the candle flame.

She fought to keep her voice steady "so-so you're saying that I imagined it?" she demanded.

The Cardinal smiled as though she understood him perfectly. "Some rest is what I recommend." He stated his gaze returning to the papers on his desk. With dawning anger she realised he'd just dismissed her. With one more useless glance in Carl's direction she stood mutely and made her way to the door. Her fingers trembled as she grasped the handle and slipped numbly back to the dormitories.

Dracula watched her from the shadows if she sensed him she didn't look up making her way swiftly and nervously towards her friends. When she broke into a run down the darkest corridor he didn't blame her for her fear.

Van Helsing grumbled his annoyance stomping through the flooded woodland path. His horse stumbled miserably in his wake it's head hanging low through exhaustion. He'd been walking alone for three days now his boots and coat saturated with the endless rain that had plagued him since he'd crossed the border and entered Hungary. It was as though God himself were trying to drive him back, but nothing short of the complete angelic horde would keep him from Anna.

Even when he found his way barred by floods or the forest impassable he ignored the signs and continued on his way. By the fourth day when he stood seething with anguish and exhaustion staring at the empty space where a bridge had once stood he'd become aware of a voice telling him calmly and sweetly the "Everything happens for a reason." He couldn't remember now who'd said it, he'd known many such people in his unnaturally long life who could be guilty of such a statement. Now it haunted his every hindered step.

Each night staring into his campfire he wondered what that reason might be. Anna wasn't dead, of that he was certain so why couldn't he get to her? Why was he being forced from Transylvania?

The fifth day he found that his horse had died in its sleep and that he was suddenly fighting a bitter blizzard.

Exhausted and freezing he turned his wrath up to the heavens. "What the hell do you want from me?" he spat into the wind snowflakes blinding him. "God! Why do you care now where I go? Why now?"

"God has a plan Gabriel and I doubt he will be very forth coming if you yell like that."

Van Helsing whirled in astonishment squinting through the blizzard. A dark shape regarded him calmly leaning against a tree. Van Helsing pulled his gun and blinked as it vanished. "What the hell? Demon! Show yourself!"

He forced himself through the waist high powder astonished to see no tracks in the snow. Letting out a breath he shook off his hat replacing it thoughtfully. _I am losing what little sanity I have left._ He decided miserably.

Dracula watched the Hunter continue along his way. "You always were stubborn." He muttered in annoyance.

The Hunter froze turning sharply. This time Dracula was closer rocking back on his heels in the white his fingers making patterns in the snow. "You never had the patience to listen when God was talking to you."

He smiled up at his old friend in amusement. Van Helsing stared at him, his mouth agape. "Your not here demon."

Dracula stood stepping elegantly forward and bowing patronisingly. "Indeed not, I am a mirage if you will, an apparition. Perhaps that rabbit you ate wasn't quite cooked correctly?" Van Helsing stared at him coldly. "Does that help you?" the Count asked eagerly.

The Hunter regarded him coldly. "Why are you here?"

"To guide you of course."

"I asked for answers from God, not the Devil."

The Count grinned wickedly. "Ah, but which has the answers for you?"

Van Helsing scowled turning on his heel. "Your dead, act like it." He called back over his shoulder.

"She's not in Romania!" Dracula called suddenly.

Van Helsing faltered at that but when he turned the Count had vanished. He stood for a moment before taking a tentative step forward towards the Counts absent snow drawings. A rough sketch of Italy adorned the snow a tiny cross adorning the west coast.

"_She's not in Romania."_

"She's in Rome?"

Even as he uttered those words the wind ceased and the snow stopped.

Chris walked hurriedly along the familiar woodland track, for the last four days he'd returned to the Alton Woods, sitting for hours under the chained tree waiting and hoping to see the flash of light and another world to appear before his eyes.

He felt sick as he settled in his natural seat among the trees roots wondering briefly how many of his friends would make it back when the portal did appear, if it appeared at all.

Today would be the day, today they would come back he told himself just as he had the day before and the day before that as he began his silent solitary vigil.

"Are you sure it was the Necromancer?" Tony asked again squinting at Sarah from his bedroll. She was sitting at the table by the window staring miserably into the flame of the candle.

She nodded closing her eyes in frustration. "I already told you, it was definitely him in all his perverted, menacing, homicidal, glory." She said miserably picking at the drops of melted wax that had pooled around the base of the candle.

"And he showed you the future?" Marston muttered sceptically.

"Not exactly…he said it was what could happen…"

"What was it like?" Jory asked eagerly.

She shuddered but was saved answering when Amie gasped loudly. "Oh my God, I'm going to be poor aren't I? That's what you don't want to tell me!" She grabbed Bob burying her head in his shoulder. "We're going to be poor! And our babies will have to live in sacks."

Her boyfriend nodded gravely. "Like me."

She pulled back rolling her eyes sarcastically. "Yes like you, many moons ago."

They both glanced up when Sarah uttered a small sob burying her head in her arms. Marston shuffled over to her putting his arm round her. "Hey, come on don't cry."

She shook her head looking up at him tears streaming down her face. "I saw it Marston we were all dead, all of us and Chris, we died here!"

Amie pulled her into a hug stroking her hair "Sarah, Chris isn't here is he?"

The girl blinked startled and pulled back to stare at her friend. "He didn't come with us this time." Amie said patiently smiling.

Sarah closed her eyes in relief. "No he didn't."

"So it can't be real can it?"

She opened her eyes blinking back tears of relief "No…but it felt so real."

The group glanced up as the door opened and Anna walked in, Velkan beaming around them all from her arms. Amie grinned broadly as the Princess handed him over for a cuddle.

Carl wandered in behind the princess colouring when he saw Sarah avoiding his gaze. "Your still angry then?" he asked tentatively.

Sarah looked at him coldly. "I was never angry Carl, I was scared and I needed you as a friend in there."

He had the decency to look ashamed of himself at least.

Anna scowled at him then crouched down so she was level with the young woman. "What did the Necromancer say to you?"

She looked up at the princess and nearly burst into fresh tears to see the trust in her eyes. "You believe me."

Anna smiled and drew the girl into a sisterly hug. For the first time she felt safe, her trembling subsided somewhat, the princess pulled back brushing the girl's hair back off her face. "What did he say?"

"He…he said something about bringing Dracula back." Sarah whispered her throat harsh. "…he wanted me to help him do it…" she swallowed hard. Staring down at her feet, what would Anna say if she knew she had been speaking to Dracula all this time, that she'd been betraying her trust? She'd known about Van Helsing, knew he was alive now so why hadn't she said something? The answer was simple, she was afraid. Such a coward, terrified that they would all turn away from her, fear her even…maybe they should.

Anna sighed wearily taking a seat in the armchair by the fire. "So that's it." She muttered.

The group had fallen deathly silent. Amie hugged Velkan tightly to her. "He couldn't could he? He can't bring The Dracula back?"

Jory frowned. "Even if he did he'd just come back like the others wouldn't he?"

"Yeah!" Marston agreed cheerfully. "We'd just cut his head off and that would be it!"

Carl shook his head fearfully. "Dracula was already dead before, God knows what he would come back as or what the Necromancer would gain from him."

"Power." Sarah answered hesitantly. "He wants power."

Anna nodded thoughtfully, her face pale. "I hope it's that simple."

Sarah smiled "Thanks Anna, at least you don't think I was being "hysterical" a poor swooning woman, right Carl?"

"Damn right!" Tony exclaimed grinning.

She threw a pillow at him, which he dodged with practiced ease. Pleased when he saw the smallest smile grace her face.

Carl settled himself on the edge of one of the cots keeping his silence.

Anna spoke for him. "The Cardinal is taking your accusations seriously even if he doesn't quite believe them."

"Nice to know." Bob scoffed.

The Princess sent him wry smile. "But still the Necromancer was here, he is getting more powerful and even the Vatican won't protect us for long."

"We need Van Helsing." Sarah whispered.

Anna nodded. She looked to where Velkan had fallen asleep in Amie's lap her gaze longing and distant.

Tony frowned. "How long has he been missing now?"

"Seven months." Carl answered quickly. He turned to Sarah obviously trying to make amends. "It's All Saints Eve tomorrow you know, Hallo'ween."

She glanced up with interest. "Really?"

He nodded eagerly. "Well today actually" he amended glancing at the clock on the mantle as its hands shuddered on to midnight. "The Vatican celebrates with a feast and I dare say you are all invited."

"Would they really still do that after they lost their friends today?" Marston asked quietly.

The Friar nodded. "More so because of that."

Anna rose and prised the now sleeping baby from Amie. "It's been a long day, I think we all should get some sleep." She decided.

Carl nodded and left Anna following close behind. Sarah bit her lip worriedly before calling out. "Princess?" Anna turned expectantly. "Lock your door tonight."

The Princess smiled and nodded closing the door close behind her.

"Thank God for real food!" Jory laughed tearing off a piece of chicken happily.

Amie stared down at her plate sulkily. "I can't eat this! All the vegetables have touched dead animals, the gravy is even made with the dead animals!"

Sarah smiled at her and passed her a bowl of potatoes dripping with butter. "These haven't touched anything, they should be alright."

Bob glanced up with a mouthful of chicken. "Ohh potatoes!!" he leant over his girlfriend and started to rummage in the bowl with his chicken laden fork looking for the best one. He pulled it out triumphantly and added his prize to his groaning plate.

The two girls stared at him and he flushed suddenly realising he'd just contaminated Amie's potatoes. He turned glared at Jory. "You know I blame you for this." He muttered darkly.

Jory grinned. "Just because I ate one kangaroo burger in front of her."

Anna chuckled. "Don't worry Amie I've had one of the chefs prepare you something vegetarian."

The girl visibly brightened when a plate of steamed vegetables and potatoes was placed in front of her.

Despite the grisly events of the previous day the banqueting hall was buzzing with chatter and laughter. Though some of the monks avoided Anna and her friends several had made attempts to include them in conversation and Tony was busy trying to learn as much Italian as he could from an energetic young friar called Father Thomas.

Sarah laughed nudging Marston as Tony struggled over a difficult sentence. "I swear he's only learning that so he can insult me in three languages."

"Three?"

"Yeah, he already swears openly in English but you should hear him when he gets going in Cantonese!"

A lone monk stood by the door watching the crowd with calculating eyes. Anna had glimpsed him as she'd entered the hall and been uncomfortably aware of his stare for the past half hour. She carried on with her meal joining the groups banter and engaging some of the friendlier monks in conversation but all the time her attention was on him. When he suddenly began to sidle over to their table she tensed and was ready when the knife slipped from his wrist slashing towards her neck.

Sarah screamed in shock as the Princess dived across the table kicking out and catching the monk in the chin with a sickening crunch. The monks at the other end of the room stared in mute shock that would have been comical if the attacker hadn't let out a guttural roar and leapt after Anna stepping in Amie's dinner as he went.

"I won't have this in my Vatican!" the Cardinal yelled angrily.

Order members around the room began to advance on the pair as Anna did her best to hold the monk off clearly trying her best not to hurt him more than necessary. "Sarah your sword!" She cried out.

Ever since her encounter with the Necromancer Sarah had kept her sword close much to the annoyance of the Cardinal. Anna held the Monk off with one hand and held out the other for the sword but before Sarah could pass it over Anna lost her grip and the monk took his chance sinking his dagger in to the flesh of her shoulder.

"Princess!"

Anna gritted her teeth against the pain and twisted her body catching the monk off balance. He gasped in surprise as she swung him round using his own weight against him until he found himself staring up at her from the banquet table.

Several monks from the order seized his wrists and feet pinning him while Tony and Jory pulled Anna away. She slumped against the wall grunting with pain as Carl grasped the end of the dagger and tore it free from her shoulder.

"It's not bad, just a flesh wound." The friar reassured her hurriedly tearing the hem of his robes and binding the wound.

A shriek of surprise made them look back to where the monk still struggled. The crowd that had gathered had stepped back sharply some of the monks hurrying from the room whilst others fell to their knees praying fervently to the saints that adorned the walls.

Anna pulled away from Carl fighting her way through the throng until she stood staring at her attacker lying spread eagled on the table amid the wasted food and broken glasses. His robes had fallen open revealing a great decaying chasm in his chest. Maggots slithered and writhed among protruding ribs and the remains of the organs, a withered parchment heart hung uselessly amid bone and muscle.

Sarah hurried up beside the princess staring in morbid fascination as the creature struggled against its disgusted captors.

"Anna he's…"

"Dead." The Princess finished coldly. She looked up and caught the Cardinal's eyes nodding towards the struggling corpse. His cold stare narrowed and he bowed his head towards her before turning and striding away.

Anna watched him leave then turned to the pale girl beside her. "Sarah, your sword." Sarah looked up at her and unsheathed her sword passing it shakily to the Princess.

Anna tested its weight and balance wincing as it tugged on her injured shoulder. Slowly with morbid ceremony she made her way to the tableside so that for a moment she stood at the head of a human pentagram mirroring the sacrificial ceremonies of the ancients.

The corpse spat and moaned at her, staring up with murderous hate as she raised the blade and brought it singing down on to the creature's neck.

Sarah watched numbly, vaguely remembering a time when she was innocent of such things and might have shied away from the sight. Now she watched the head roll and heard the sound of her sword sticking in bone and flesh. When had she gotten used to this?

The teens stood silently as the monks began the task of preparing the body for burning.

"The Necromancer's become bolder." Carl remarked sadly.

Marston shivered. "Did this feel like a message to anyone else? A kind of horse-head-in-your-bed-I-can-kill-you-at-any-time warning?"

Sarah turned to stare at him in realisation. "He's showing me that the vision will come true." She whispered. Amie frowned "We already said that it won't"

"Yeah but do we want to take the risk?" Bob wondered.

Tony scowled. "So what can we do to stop it? Sarah's not going to join him anytime soon so the only other option is that we leave."

Anna nodded. "Yes, we'll leave Rome and the Vatican."

"Not just Rome." Sarah countered. "We have to leave here, this world, we have to go home."

Anna closed her eyes briefly and let out a breath. "This is not the place to discuss this." She led the way back to the dormitory closing and locking the door securely behind them. Sarah settled herself beside the fire taking small comfort from the heat of the flames and trying not to look at Dracula's lone silhouette leaning casually against the mantel.

"We already said that we can't go home." Amie said suddenly snuggling up to Bob on the edge of her bedroll. "We're too far from the portal aren't we?"

"We'd have to go all the way back to Vaseria to do it and the Necromancer would pick us off on the way." Jory agreed.

Carl cleared his throat reluctantly. "er…actually all you need is a weak point but they're difficult to locate, we only know about the one you came through because you came through it."

Sarah looked up suddenly her eyes shining with new hope. "It's Halloween Carl, Samhain, the one day the barriers are weak everywhere."

"That's convenient." Bob quipped.

Anna looked at them all sadly. "So you would go? If given the choice you would leave us? Leave Van Helsing?"

Sarah shook her head. "I'll stay." She said firmly and turned to her friends. "You'll all go."

Six angry voices rose at once. "Like hell we will!"

"We wouldn't leave you here."

"You'll die!"

"Don't be an idiot!"

She glared at them all. "I'm not going to let you stay here if it means you'll die!" she screamed at them angrily.

"That's not your decision!" Marston yelled back jumping to his feet. "You didn't force us to come we chose to, because we want to help. Anna and Carl and Van Helsing mean just as much to us!"

"We knew the risk when we came here." Amie shouted suddenly. "We knew what happened last time and we knew it might happen again to any of us."

"What makes you think we'll leave just because you tell us to Sarah?" Bob asked angrily.

She looked from one to the other trembling with her urgency and need to see them safe. Every time they looked at her she saw their eyes vacant and staring their expressions frozen in deepest agony. She glanced over at Carl and saw the portal device in his hands; he was fingering it nervously staring from one determined expression to the other in fear and confusion. Quickly she dashed forwards and snatched it from his fingers.

"What are you doing?" Marston yelled in shock.

"Making the decision for you!"

She tore the leather glove off her injured had letting the bandage fall loose across her skin.

"What the fuck!" Jory swore trying to climb over the beds towards her.

"Sarah stop it!" Amie yelled fearfully.

"You've lost it!"

She looked up to see Tony and Marston diving for her and quickly dragged her dagger across the still healing cut feeling it burn and tear under the blade.

Marston caught her arms trying to grab the device. She lost her footing and fell to the floor Tony made a wild grab for her arm but she dragged it away and with a cry of pain pressed her bloody hand to the device completing the circuit and pressed the button.

A brilliant white light exploded out from the device knocking the two boys away. A warm wind filled the room pulling at their hair and clothes and suddenly warm summer sunshine caressed their skin and shone brightly from the lush woodland beyond the breach.

"Go! Whilst it's open, you have the option take it!" Sarah screamed.

Her friends stared at her from the other side of the room. One by one they backed away from the opening staring at their home world but unwilling to enter it.

"Go!"

"We told you, we're staying." Amie said stubbornly.

Anna stepped up beside Sarah. "If you stay you'll die." She said sadly. "Go."

Tony shook his head. "No."

Carl stared into the portal. "er…theirs something moving in there." He stammered.

The teens stopped arguing and stared into the portal. Something large was running towards it, getting closer and closer.

"It's closing!" Marston called suddenly.

Sarah stared as the figure leapt forward striking the barrier just as the portal wavered and flashed out of existence.

The group stood in shock staring at the figure crouched in the center of the room.

Amie stepped forward cautiously. "Chris?!"

Chris straightened and blinked round at the group casually brushing twigs and leaves from his hair a bright grin splitting his features. "Hey guys!"

Sarah stood gaping at him; Marston snatched the portal device from her fingers waving it happily in front of her. "Well that backfired a bit didn't it!" he exclaimed cheerfully.

Note: hope you all like it, please review the more reviews I get the guiltier I'll feel and the faster I'll update xxx


End file.
